Love Knots
by BlakRythem
Summary: When the cold-hearted teen idol Hyuuga Natsume asks you out, you aren't supposed to say no. Sakura Mikan did. And she ended up being his girlfriend... Forcibly, of course. NxM.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I own so many things... Sadly, Gakuen Alice is not one of them. (TT)

**Summary:** Her foolishness almost cost her her sight. But at the interval of her being blind, she found a new friend. Five years later, she got caught up in the most difficult web to be tangled in... Especially when you had to deal with a teen celebrity.

**Author's Note:** Hmmm... you know, the weirdest thing about this story is that I got my inspiration for it when my mobile phone hanged on me. So yeah... it has a bit of the elements in Tachibana-sensei's "A Girl in a Bird Cage" manga, but it IS a completely different story. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this!! Please review afterwards!!

* * *

**Love Knots**

by

**BlakRythem**

It was exactly five minutes to eight when the house phone of the Imai residence started ringing loudly. The raven-haired girl of the household looked up from her day's homework and glanced at the telephone.

"Mom, the phone's ringing." She called her mother as she went back to answer the next problem.

"Yes, yes." Her mother said as she emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands dry on her apron and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

_"HELLO?! MRS. IMAI?!" _Came the high pitched voice of the house's regular caller, almost deafening the woman's right ear. She smiled.

"Mikan-chan! Good evening! Did you call for Hotaru?" She asked. The raven haired girl looked up from her work and shook her head vigorously.

_"YES!! I HAVE GREAT NEWS TO TELL HER!!" _The caller said excitedly.

Mrs. Imai chuckled, "Okay, okay. Just a minute, dear." She said as she handed the cordless phone and gave it to her daughter.

Hotaru looked at the phone as if she would die if she touched it and then sighed and took it anyway.

"What do you want?" She asked, annoyed.

_"HOTARU! HOTARU! HOTARU!! YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHAT JUST HAPPENED TO ME TODAY!!"_ Her best friend cried out from the other line, obviously happy.

"You grew a brain cell?" She sarcastically asked as she continued to answer her homework.

_"NUH-UH!! IT'S REALLY GREAT NEWS!!"_

Hotaru grunted, "What is it?"

_"I won the radio contest!! I get to spend the DAY with __**the**__ HYUUGA NATSUME __TOMORROW!!" She _squeeled in delight. At that moment, Hotaru had a picture of her brunette friend dancing around her house with the telephone in tow.

At that new information, Imai Hotaru did what she usually did when her best friend, Sakura Mikan told her something useless.

She hung up.

* * *

Sakura Mikan brushed her hair the nth time that day, making sure that it was perfect for the day's outing. She went to her dresser and picked out the best of her wardrobe.

_This is so exciting!_ She thought as she hugged her pink blouse, a blush crept up to her cheeks.

Twelve-year old Sakura Mikan didn't usually go crazy over the same old typical celebrity... But this one actually changed all of that. When she first saw the young actor and singer's face, she thought he was the same as every celebrity.

Arrogant and fake.

But after witnessing him do a heroic deed one day, she swore that she was going to melt at the times when she looked at his smiling pictures.

Well... he only smiled a little when he was with this particular blonde actor who was about the same age as he was.

And the same age as her! And that made her happy.

She looked at the line of clothes she had hung up and wondered what she should wear.

Should she wear her usual pink blouse and her white mini skirt?

Or should she go for something wilder?

She frowned when she thought of herself looking like a total fool.

She rummaged through her dresser and smiled when she found what she was looking for. A green hooded shirt with its sleeves puffed. The shirt was a V neck and it went down to her chest, definitely something that was meant to have something inside of it, say a white sleeveless... unless you wanted to expose your own chest.

She put it on and matched it with her laced mini skirt. She tied her hair to a sided ponytail on her head with a sunflower hair tie. She admired herself on the full length mirror and smiled in satisfaction.

_(Note: To see what she looks like, then please visit GA in mangafox)_

"There! It's not anything showy and it's not plain either! It's just me!" She happily said before her mother's head popped into her room.

"Mikan, if you don't hurry, you'll be late for your own date." Her mother teased her, making Mikan burst in embarassment.

"Mom! It's not a date! It's just something I won through the radio!" She protested, her face beet red.

Her mother chuckled, "If you say so. You look so cute! I'm sure whoever this celebrity is will fall head-over-heels in love with you!" She cooed, making the currently embarassed pre-teen more embarassed.

"Alright, alright! I'm going!" She said as she pushed her out of her room.

She sighed as she grabbed her winning mail which she received that night. "I'm ready!" She said enthusiastically.

* * *

"Natsume, why are still hanging around here? Aren't you supposed to meet with that radio winner?" A blonde haired boy asked as he sat down on the sofa next to a raven haired boy.

He grunted, "Why do I even have to bother? Isn't all of this for show?" He asked as he flipped through the page of his manga.

His friend sighed, "You know, the girl who called seemed pretty excited and happy when she found out she won." He informed him.

"Tch. Aren't they all? They all just grovel, there's nothing new about it." He said, his boredom apparent.

The blonde sighed, "Then why did you agree to be the winner's _reward_?"

"I didn't agree to it, Ruka. I was _forced_ to do it." He said matter-of-factly. He closed his manga and eyed his best friend. "If you're so interested, then why don't you go?"

"H-HUH?! M-ME? No way! I have things to do!" Ruka said, denying Natsume's generous offer.

"But you know, you don't want to make that girl feel bad for not showing up, right?" Ruka asked him after calming down.

Natsume sighed, "Whatever." He said, giving in as he walked out of the room and headed out of the studio.

"Have fun and good luck!" Ruka cried out enthusiastically.

"Bastard." Natsume breathed out.

--

Mikan skipped through the people and entered the studio, excited to meet her idol.

"Excuse me, Mikan-chan?" She turned around and came face to face with a blonde haired man with an air of... peppiness.

"Yes! I'm Sakura Mikan!" She announced.

The blonde haired man smiled, "Welcome and congratulations, Mikan-chan. I'm Natsume-kun's agent, Narumi. Now there are things you need to know before going out with Natume-kun..."

Mikan listened intently to the weird man as he briefed her about a couple or so things about the days outing.

"So this is her?"

Her head snapped up when a young boy came up to them. She gawked at him and realized that he was even more handsome to look at up close. She smiled at him.

"Ah, Natsume-kun, this is Sakura Mikan-chan, the girl who won the contest." Narumi introduced, but all the boy did was stare at her as if she were from another planet.

"Hn. Well what are we waiting for? Let's go." He ordered.

"Ehm... Don't you need the limo?" Narumi asked them.

Before Natsume could answer him, the brunette said, "No, that's fine! Walking would be much better! And it would be exercising too!!" She cheerfully said, lifting an arm up, as if she were showing him her muscle.

Narumi looked at the young actor. Natsume merely grunted and walked out of the studio first.

"H-hey! Wait!" Mikan called out and waved her goodbye to Narumi.

Narumi smiled, "Have fun you two!" _This girl is very interesting_. He thought as he went off to do some of his other work.

* * *

There was silence when the two set foot out of the studio, none of them said a word before...

"I'm Sakura Mikan!" The brunette introduced herself, extending a hand for him to shake.

Natsume merely looked at it. "Didn't that Narumi introduce you to me earlier?"

Mikan nodded, "He did! But it's better if you introduce yourself rather than have someone else do it for you!" She said matter-of-factly.

"So where are we going?" She asked him.

"Anywhere."

"Where are we gonna eat?"

"Anywhere."

"... Are we going to the arcade?"

"...Maybe."

"Do you want some ice cream or some corn cobs before lunch?"

"Maybe."

Mikan swore that she felt a nerve pop on her head. _Patience, Sakura. Patience._

"Do you know any other word other than 'anywhere' and 'maybe'?"

"Probably."

Mikan sighed, "You're actually a difficult person to talk to." She said as she sat down on a nearby bench.

"You ask too much. It's annoying." Natsume said, somewhat bluntly.

Mikan glared at him, "Well sorry for being annoying!" At that outburst she cupped her mouth and muttered, "Sorry."

"Hn."

"So what do you like to do?" She asked him.

"Anything."

"Okay... do you want to play?" She asked, thinking about going to the arcade.

Natsume stared at her, "Do I look like a five-year old to you?"

"Of course not! I was thinking if you wanted to play video games!"

"Not really."

"So what DO you do when you take pe--"

"You're so annoying."

Mikan stopped.

"Listen. It's not like I wanted to do this stupid charade. That Narumi made me do it. So it would be better if we do what I want to do if you really want to hang out with me so badly." He coldly said, not looking at her.

Mikan stared at him, not believing what she just heard.

"Excuse me?"

Natsume sighed in frustratioin. "All you girls are the same, going crazy over celebrities without knowing who they really are, so stupid, shallow and annoying. It's sicken--"

SLAP.

The sound reverberated through the whole of the park, picking up the attention of half the people there.

Natsume's head was turned side ways and his left cheek turned red at the impact of the hard slap given to him by the brunette.

Mikan felt almost emotionless. She didn't think any of this would happen. She didn't think that she would hear that from the one she idolized most. She didn't think that she could actually be mad enough to slap a boy in public.

"I was right... All you celebrities are the same... cold, arrogant, and FAKE. There's nothing good about you at all!" She screamed at him, tears threatened to fall down her eyes that were filled with frustration and disappointment.

Natsume glared at her, "Then if you think that you were right, then why did you want to see me so badly, _ahou_?" He insulted her as he rubbed the spot where he was slapped.

"Because I thought you were different! But now I see that you're the worst!" She said as she ran away from him, not knowing else what to do.

He looked at her retreating form, still angry but then sighed as he tried following her.

She couldn't stop running, she shouldn't stop running.

_Baka Mikan! Of course he would be like that! And all I ever did was try to make friends! I can't believe that he would be a good person! _She thought as she ran faster.

Then, it all happened so fast, or maybe it didn't since her mind was blocking out every other detail that happened to her that day. All she thought about doing was run for home.

All she remembered was a loud honking and something large and cold colliding with her small body and then there was darkness.

* * *

"Mikan... Mikan... My poor baby..."

She heard a soothing voice call her, she groaned and tried to get up but felt her whole body wracking in pain.

"Mikan! Don't get up." The voice said.

"M-mom... is that you?" She called out. She felt distressed. She couldn't see, she couldn't see anything. Where was she? What happened to her?

"Ssshh... It's all right. You're in the hospital now." Her mother soothed as she caressed her auburn hair. "You got into a car accident."

"Mom... I can't see... w-why?" She sobbed.

"The doctor said that you'll be temporarily be blind for a few days. Don't worry honey, you'll be able to see soon." She said as she kissed her daughter's head.

"Sakura-san, visiting hours is over." Mikan heard the nurse tell her mother and she felt panic rise within her.

"Mom, don't leave me."

"Don't worry, honey. I'll be back first day tomorrow morning okay?" Her mother promised as she kissed her again and said goodbye.

Mikan felt hesitant. What did she get herself into? Why on earth did she enter that stupid contest? If she hadn't then she would be playing with Hotaru that moment.

She suddenly heard her door opening and closing, and footsteps coming towards her.

"Wh-who's there?" She called out, frightened. What if it was some kind of pervert or even worse... a psychopath?

No one answered.

"I-if you don't answer, I-I'm gonna call the nurse!" She threatened as she searched for the call button next to her bed with much difficulty.

A hand grabbed her roaming hand in a gentle manner.

Then an idea came to Mikan, "Y-You... you can't talk... can you?"

She felt another hand grab her already trapped hand and felt a gentle squeezed.

She smiled. "So you really can't talk! Do you stay in this hospital?"

There was a pause before she felt the person gently squeezing her hand again.

And that was a start of a new friendship.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Yeah! Done! This is the prologue! lol. I know I have another story to update but that idea just came and it wouldn't let me finish my other stories. So I decided to publish this first. So, how was it? Too fast? Too touchy feely? Please send me your comments and suggestions.

I really might continue this if there are a fair number of reviews so...

Review!!

**BlakRythem.**


	2. My Partner's an Idol WHAT!

**Disclaimer:** I am about to state a very, very lonesome fact... I don't really own Gakuen Alice. The characters were just loaned for fanfiction purposes. (Tears up)

**Summary: **When the cold-hearted teen idol Hyuuga Natsume asks you out, you aren't supposed to say no. Sakura Mikan did. And she ended up being his girlfriend... Forcibly, of course.

**Author's note: **Well, here you are! The second instalment to "Love Knots", and just after midterms too! (XD) well, I really don't know how to start this A/N except maybe thank all of you who supported this fan fiction. I didn't really expect it to have more than five reviews. (Since, when I was writing the prologue, it was half-hearted.) Well, enjoy! And please review afterwards!

* * *

**Love Knots**

By

**BlakRythem**

"_Hey Moku(1), what are you like?"_

"_**Are you a nice person?"**_

"_Are you handsome?"_

"_**On the 14**__**th**__** of February, I'll be able to see again! I'm so excited to finally see you!"**_

"_...Moku?"_

**Chapter 1: My Partner's an Idol... WHAT?!**

_Huff! Puff! Huff! Puff! Huff! Puff!_

_Bonk!_

"_Ow! Hey, watch where you throw that, punk!"_

_Tiptaptiptaptiptaptiptaptiptaptiptap! (2)_

_Sssshhhhhrrrrrk! (3)_

"_**I'M NOT LATE!!" **_The sixteen year old brunette declared as she bolted through the doors of her classroom, still out of breath.

There was a stunned silence as everybody in the classroom stared at the panting girl. She sweat dropped when she found that everyone was already seated and the homeroom teacher was at the front of the class, frowning at her.

Oh yes she, Sakura Mikan, WAS late alright... thrice that week, in fact.

"Well, well, well, Ms. Sakura, how nice of you to join us this morning. Now please take a seat before I make you clean the toilet bowls." The old hag warned.

"Yes ma'am." Mikan said wryly as she took a seat next to her best friend.

"What took you?" The violet-eyed girl inquired. Mikan grinned at her sheepishly, "I overslept." She mumbled. Hotaru rolled her eyes and sighed. "That's what you get for staying up late, idiot."

"Hey! It wasn't my fault that I couldn't sleep! Mom made me watch _'Ju-on' _with her last night! Now I can't even go anywhere without glancing behind my back just to make sure some freaky middle-aged ghost lady isn't following me!"

Someone cleared his throat. The brunette looked around and realized that her classmates had their eyes on her. Apparently, she just shouted that out.

Unfortunately, the homeroom teacher... whom we shall call Mrs. Kuroda from now on, didn't fail to notice that.

"Ms. Sakura!! Perhaps YOU would like to introduce our new students??" She seethed out.

'_Huh? New students?_' Her eyes travelled from the scowling educator to two handsome boys, one of them looked at her with interest, and the other just gave her a bored look. The brunette blinked rapidly as she thought of where she saw them before.

The first had blonde hair and gentle blue eyes to match his ever-so pleasant face.

The second one was...

He was...

CLICK.

"AH! IT'S YOU!! THAT JERK HYUUGA NATSUME!!" She blurted out as she bolted up from her seat and pointed at him, surprising the whole class (Majority of the girls, aflame). The raven-haired boy raised an eyebrow.

"_SSAAAKKUUUURRRAAA..."_

* * *

"What's up with this?? Why am I being punished?" She asked herself as she continued to scrub the toilet bowl using a used toothbrush.

"It's because you say things without thinking." A cold voice said. Mikan looked up from the cubicle and saw a head from the other side, looking directly at her.

"GYYAAAHH!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, accidentally dropping the toothbrush in the bowl.

"Calm down, it's only me." The head said as it disappeared. The cubicle door opened and revealed her life-long best friend, Imai Hotaru.

"Ho-Hotaru! Don't scare me like that!" Mikan whined.

"Who said I was trying to scare you? You got scared on your own, you big 'fraidy cat." Hotaru stated as she helped the tearing girl up.

"Hotaru!! Why is that devil here?! He shouldn't be allowed to mingle with the likes of us who live actual lives!" The brunette started blabbering as she shook Hotaru uncontrollably.

"And what's worse, that hag assigned me to be his... his... his..."

The placid girl took out a boxing glove out of no where and punched the hysterical girl straight on the face.

"Get a hold of yourself, idiot. If you hate him that much, then the best thing you can do is ignore him."

"I CAN'T!! KURODA SAID THAT IF I DIDN'T TREAT HIM WITH RESPECT, SHE'D FAIL ME!"

"Well then pretend to be nice. You're actually pretty good at being nice that you forget that you're pretending."

Mikan sighed, "That's easy for you to say. You didn't get fooled by him."

"...You were a child... a simple-minded, naive child." Mikan gave her a weird look. "Are you saying that you weren't?" Hotaru answered her before leaving the girl's rest room.

"I wasn't simple-minded when we were twelve, idiot."

"Meanie!" She cried out to her as she stomped after her.

* * *

"It must really be hard to be in showbiz, huh, Ruka?" A boy with spiky blonde hair and a smiling face asked.

"Ummm... yeah, it is sorta hard I guess."

"What about you Natsume-kun?"

"I'm sure Natsume-kun thinks that living under the spotlight is a breeze! Ne, Natsume-kun?"

Mikan looked over her biology book and glared at the noisy crowd. It was supposed to be their biology period that very moment... But the teacher had gone to a meeting and left the class to study on their own.

But instead of obeying the teacher, everyone seemed to have swarmed the two new students and started to bombard them with questions about their life.

"It's annoying! Don't they know that it's self-studying time? They should follow us! Celebrities shouldn't be allowed in normal schools!" Mikan started complaining.

"Hmm... Do you even understand what you're reading?" Hotaru asked her. Mikan was silent.

"Ummm... well... a few things here and there... Ne, Hotaru... can you explain the Krebs cycle to me?" She asked sheepishly. Hotaru rolled her eyes and continued to ignore her.

"You people... are like flies swarming on a light bulb. Can you not crowd us?"

Silence...

Hotaru and Mikan both turned to the now silent crowd. All eyes were on Natsume.

"THAT'S RIGHT! BACK OFF NOW! DON'T BREATHE THEIR AIR!" A green haired girl, by the name of Shouda Sumire said as she pushed the other girls away as Natsume stood up from his seat.

"Would you like us to do anything for you, Natsume-kun?" They started asking, suggesting different kinds of things that they thought would make him more... welcome.

"Natsume?"

The raven-haired boy walked out of the crowd and stopped midway to the door.

"Hey, Weird Little Girl."

All eyes roamed the room in search of the person he was referring to.

Mikan made a face. "How mean. Who's he calling weird anyway?"

"I think that's you." Hotaru bluntly said.

"ME?!" She blurted out, causing everyone to look at her.

"Yeah, you. Show me around." The cool-headed celebrity ordered.

"But we have a class after this, Natsume." His blonde-haired friend reasoned.

"I don't care. I want to see the whole place."

Mikan stood up and slammed her fist on her desk. "And who are you to just tell me what to do?!"

"The person who is going to get you a failing grade if you don't do what he says." He answered her, a smirk on his face.

She glared at him for a moment, and then sighed as she closed her book shut and walked towards him, and as she did, the temperature of the classroom suddenly rose to 80⁰F. Mikan froze when she felt a burning aura behind her. She turned around only to see an angry horde of fan girls.

"Sakura... you'd better not do anything smooth with him... got that?" Sumire heatedly said.

"You were just lucky... getting picked to be Hyuuga Natsume's partner."

"You're not even pretty! Dream on!"

Mikan scowled at them. "DREAM ON _WHAT_?! I don't care what you think; I'm only doing this because my future depends on it!" She said and stomped out of the classroom, after him.

Hotaru closed her book and sighed, "Don't do anything that you'll regret, idiot."

* * *

There was an awkward silence between the two as they walked around the campus. Natsume was at the front while Mikan simply followed him, her head down as thoughts started to fill her. _'This feels... kind of familiar... and different at the same time.'_ As she continued to wander in her thoughts, she didn't notice Natsume stopping, causing her to collide with his back.

"Hey! Say something before stopping!" She angrily said as she rubbed her flattened nose.

"Tch. It's your fault that you were being an airhead. Aren't you supposed to be the one touring me?"

Mikan glared at him and folded her arms on her chest. "Well I _would _if you'd let me lead!" and then mumbled in a small voice, "I didn't even want to be caught dead walking around with the likes of you."

Natsume clicked his tongue, "It'd be a shame to not let you go to 12th grade." He nonchalantly said as he walked on. Mikan, in alarm, went in front of him and faked a smile, "What part of the school would you like to see, Hyuuga-_san_?" She rigidly said, emphasizing the honorific.

Natsume rubbed his chin, "The quietest place in the school."

Mikan blinked, "The library?"

"Of course, I wanna read a book. No, idiot! I mean in the outdoors."

Her eyes narrowed, "Don't call me an idiot! If you want me to treat you with respect, you should treat me with some civility too!"

"Now I wanna sleep. I'm going to rest under that Sakura tree." He said, ignoring Mikan's ranting and headed toward a hill with a Sakura tree on the apex. He lied down there, not bothering to invite the brunette over.

Mikan huffed as she watched him lie down on the ground. The thought of leaving him there came to her until...

"It's a sad thing to report Mrs. Kuroda, but Sakura Mikan coaxed me to play hooky during biology class." Natsume practiced his speech out loud, making Mikan turn to him sharply and stomped up to him.

"HEY! I DID NOT MAKE YOU PLAY HOOKY, YOU... YOU!" She bawled, trying to find the perfect insult to throw at him.

"If you don't do as I say, I'll tell her that." Natsume said smugly.

"Like she'll believe that!"

"If it comes from me, I believe she will." She glared at her blackmailer and sat on the ground behind him, leaning her back on the tree.

'_It's alright Sakura... Just... Ignore him. Just... REALLY, REALLY IGNORE HIM.'_ She chanted to herself with her eyes clothes, for a moment it actually worked, she felt relaxed there listening to the sound of nature that she totally forgot the heavy burden that was only sitting in front of her that moment...

She remembered what it felt like to lose her eyesight... how she didn't feel lonely at all... and the person who made her feel warm and happy on those days she couldn't see. She could just picture out what her mute friend would've looked like...

...Until she felt awkward all of a sudden.

She opened her eyes and realized that _the_ Hyuuga Natsume's face was a mere inch from hers, his breathing caught on her face. The urge to punch him on the jaw with all the force she could muster came to her, but she was frozen at the look that he gave her.

"Go out with me."

_Ticktickticktickticktickticktick... (4)_

"WHAAAAAAAT?!"

That day Sakura Mikan, age 16, almost died of heart failure.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

1. Moku- Shortened from _mokumoku_ which means "Silent" in Japanese.

2. Sound Effects—climbing the stairs... In Mikan's case here... running.

3. Sound Effects—sliding door opening.

4. Sound Effects—Bomb ticking. (Figurative bomb, of course.)

(Ehehehe... I just thought I'd write that just in case those parts were unclear to some of you.)

It's finish!! (Happy) I actually enjoyed writing all of that. Especially the last part. Bwahahahaha! Cliffhanger! I like putting in sound effects!! It saves time of writing in too much detail and it... I dunno... It was fun writing!

But I hope it didn't go too fast. And I hope everything was clear to you. It's been a while since I've updated anything so... yeah (--,)

I'm sure there are grammatical errors some where in there so, I apologize deeply for that.

Please leave me your comments by clicking that wonderful purple button that we all fondly call... the review button. They are deeply appreciated.


	3. The Bet

**Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice is definitely owned by someone OTHER than me!**

**Summary: **When the cold-hearted teen idol Hyuuga Natsume asks you out, you aren't supposed to say no. Sakura Mikan did. And she ended up being his girlfriend... Forcibly, of course.

**Author's Note: **First of all, I'd like to apologize immensely for the very late update. I know that I'm not the fastest update---r around. I waited for our semester break to start before starting with anything.

I thank all of those who read this and I am deeply indebted to those who reviewed!

Would you all like some gummy bears to chew on as a token of my appreciation? Some cookies perhaps? X3

Well, here's the 2nd chapter!

Oh, and I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors!

ENJOY!**  


* * *

  
**

**Love Knots**

By

**BlakRythem**

**Chapter 2: The Bet.**

"Go out with me."

_Ticktickticktickticktickticktick..._

"WHAAAAAAAT?!"

From pure shock, the brunette accidentally--purposely whamed her head with Natsume's causing the young man to fall back and release his captive. Mikan bolted up, a large lump on her forehead and her face flustered from rage.

"What was that for?" Natsume asked furiously as he rubbed the lump growing on his cranium.

"'_What was that for?'_?? Do you think a normal person would automatically say yes to that distubingly blunt (and not to mention in such a threatening tone) question?!" She roared

"Yes." He answered with a straight face, earning a great deal of _"Go to hell!"_s from the brunette.

"And what makes you think that I would go out with you?!" She hissed. Natsume smirked and answered, "I thought that you'd want to be promoted to the ninth grade is all and..." He took a step forward, trapping her again, their faces only inches away, he lowered his head to her ear, "I thought that my no. 1 fan would want to spend a day with her _Idol_." He murmured mockingly.

At that moment, Sakura Mikan, age 16, SNAPPED... and discovered 38 new shades of red that day.

"Y-YOU!! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" Mikan yelled at him, her face flushed as she pushed him back.

Natsume smiled at her coolly. "Hyuuga Natsume, teen celebrity and the key to get YOU in your senior year... if you say yes, that is." Mikan glared daggers at him, her fists clenched swearing that one of those days that she'd hit him straight on the jaw.

"THERE IS NO WAY YOU CAN GET ME TO SAY YES TO THAT!! EVEN IF YOU BLACKMAIL ME!!" She yelled at him, pointing at him all that time. "DON'T YOU COME CLOSE TO ME!" She added and stomped off.

Natsume watched as she made her way to the high school department, still fuming. Hyuuga Natsume was not known for begging.

* * *

"SAKURA!! YOU'RE LATE IN MY CLASS... AGAIN!" The Math teacher... whom we shall name Jinno-sensei, yelled at her and hit her head with a paper fan which he got out from no where.

Mikan rubbed the spot where she was hit. "Sorry sir, I was—."

"None of your excuses! Honestly, what did Kuroda think when she assigned _you_ to be Hyuuga's partner!" He remarked. Mikan paused and grinned inwardly. _"That's right, if I tell him that that bastard is playing hooky right now, then I'd be in less trouble!"_

"Sensei—"

"I don't really mind to have a person like her as my partner." Mikan looked at the back row where she was seated and saw...

"YOU! HOW DID YOU GET HERE BEFORE ME?!"

Natsume just looked at her boredly. "I've been here long enough." He simply answered looking uninterested. But Mikan knew better. She knew that he was actually smirking at her right now.

"Take your seat, Sakura." Jinno ordered and went back to his lesson.

Mikan sulked as she did as she was told and took her seat... which was right next to Natsume... since she was his partner.

"Now, I'm giving back your test papers from last Tuesday." The middle aged man said as he took a pile from his desk and started distributing them.

"Imai, excellent as always." He complimented as he gave the violet-eyed girl her paper which was marked with a 100 percent. Mikan looked at her in awe. "That's great Hotaru, I hope I scored high too!" She said. Hotaru merely inserted her test paper in a folder and tucked it in her bag. Others would have leapt for joy getting such a mark. Scoring high wasn't such a big deal to her.

"Wow! Sumire, you got a 90 percent!"

"Of course! Math _is_ one of my specialties." The green-haired girl bragged.

"_If Permy could get a 90, I can have a high score too, right?"_ Mikan thought. Soon, Jinno handed her her paper, she looked at him and was dismayed to see that he gave her such a grave look. She gulped.

"Now then, since you have all seen your scores, perhaps it would be wise to review some items which were obviously unclear to many of you."

Mikan took the courage to peek at her score, hoping that she had at least got a passing grade.

_**15 percent.**_ It was written with a cruel red permanent marker. Mikan felt her world turning.

"Pfft." She heard someone sneer.

She glared at the person who laughed at her. "What's so funny?" She hissed at him.

"Well I thought that you were an idiot, I didn't really think that you were stupid." Natsume jeered, setting the brunette aflame.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING STUPID?!" She cupped her mouth, realizing that she had just shouted that out.

"Saaaakkkuuuurraaaa..." Jinno called out, a dark aura surrounding him, obviously enraged from being interrupted.

"Since you're so energetic today, why don't you answer this problem?" He ordered. Mikan sighed and stood up, she looked at the bored filled with complicated mathematical problem that made her head dizzy. _"He had to give me the most difficult of all!"_

"Since you seemed to be drained, perhaps your accomplice would be more willing."

Natsume stood up, looking uninterested and stared at the board. And before a second could pass...

"x= 2. y= -4. z= 1." He answered dully and slowly sat down.

"Why that's... That's..." Jinno started as he skimmed through his answer sheet. "Correct?"

Everyone looked at Natsume in awe while he put his legs up on his table, as if he didn't do anything out of the ordinary.

"That's amazing! And he didn't even take the test!"

"He's a genius!"

The comments started to fly around the classroom, diverting the student's attention from the lesson. "ORDER!" Jinno-sensei barked, retaining the peace in the classroom. "Well at least more sense was added in this classroom." He muttered as he returned to his lesson.

Mikan looked at him for a moment and swore that he had just flashed her a smirk, an evil glint in his blood-red orbs. She scowled at him and turned away.

"_That guy... What is he up to?"_

Mikan sulked as she tried to listen to Jinno. She knew that the reason she scored low was her lack of interest in the subject. She HAD to aim higher... score higher in the next test to pass. _"I'm gonna study 'til I puke next time."_ She vowed silently.

_Rrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnngg!!_ Went the school bell, signaling the end of the period and the start of lunch.

"Alright, class dismissed." Jinno simply said, letting all the students out of the room, lunch boxes in tow.

"Except for you Sakura." Mikan, who was about to leave with the Three Geeky Sisters (Composed of Nonoko, Anna, and Hotaru) and Yuu, froze when her surname was called. She stiffly turned around to Jinno, a frown on his wrinkled face. "I need to have a word with you."

Mikan sighed, "You guys go on ahead. I'll catch up." She said and went to Jinno. Anna and Nonoko looked at her.

"Let's go." Hotaru said, leaving the classroom, forcing the two to catch up with her.

"But wouldn't it be better if we just waited for Mikan-chan?" Yuu asked her.

"That moron's a big girl. She can handle herself." Hotaru said and walked off. Though she had a bad feeling about what's to turn out with her best friend.

* * *

The four friends sat on the small hill located at the back of the school, where an old tree stood to give them some shade. They ate their bento in peace. Hotaru had a peaceful gleam in her eyes, savoring the peace and quiet she longed--

"HHOOOOTTAAARRUUU!!"

--And knew would be drastically cut short.

She sighed as she took out one of her... "toys" that she made in her spare time and aimed at the sobbing girl who was about to throw herself on her.

_BAKA!_

A boxing glove went flying out of the toy's barrel and hit the brunette straight on the chin. The girl fell head first on the ground while Hotaru put her toy away.

"M-M-M-M-Mikan!" Yuu cried out as he went to help his friend up.

"Ne, don't you think that was a little harsh?" Nonoko asked.

"THAT'S RIGHT! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!" Mikan sobbed as she tried to approach Hotaru.

"Don't come close to me with that dirty face that belongs to a five-year old. You'll contaminate me with stupidity." She told her flatly.

"Why are you crying anyway?" Anna asked. "Did Jinno-sensei lash out on you?"

"Well... not really..." Mikan answered not as cheerfully as she usually was.

"Then what is it?" asked Hotaru.

Mikan pursed her lips. "That old man told me to retake the test and he assigned THAT bastard to tutor me!!"

"THAT bastard?" Everyone, except Hotaru who busily ate away her crab meat, chorused.

Mikan had a grave look on her face.

"H-Hyuuga Natsume."

**

* * *

After classes...**

They were at that same spot again where he had dragged her into playing hooky, and where she had heard the most outrageous proposals ever asked of her. She was sitting, crossed leg across him, and he was lying down on the grass.

Mikan only stared at the one who was going to tutor her, arms folded on her chest and glared at him menacingly.

"Don't give your tutor such looks. It makes you look even more ugly." He mocked her.

Mikan burst out. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING UGLY?!"

He shrugged, "Well there's no one else around here to call ugly." He taunted some more.

"I don't know what you said to Jin-Jin but there's NO WAY you can make me say yes by tutoring me." She declared with dignity.

"I know that."

"And I can study on my own and pass... without YOUR help!"

He sat up straight and said, "That's why we're making this tutorial a little more interesting."

Mikan cocked her head to the side, "Interesting?"

"Let's make a bet." He proposed.

"Fine. If I can easily study without your help and pass the upcoming test, you'll leave me alone!" Mikan said, pointing at him.

Natsume smirked, "And if you get any help from ME, you get to be my slave for the rest of my stay here." He coolly declared.

"IT'S A DEAL!" Mikan said, a fiery blaze in her eyes.

Natsume stood up, "The retake test is two days from now. If you can pass it without my help, then I'll leave you alone, but..."

"But?"

"You can't ask for anyone else's help. You are solely going to be dependent on yourself... or you can give in... If you ask for someone else, then consider yourself a loser." He said and walked away.

Mikan's face was red with anger, "I AM NOT A LOSER!" She shouted to him and he ignored her.

...And so the studying commenced.

"IamnotaloserIamnotaloserIamnotaloser..." She chanted as she went over her notes. She went home after that and the moment she stepped in her room, she grabbed her notes in Algebra and started to study. But for some reason, she just couldn't seem to put everything in her head.

"IamnotaloserIamnotaloserIamnotaloser..." She kept on chanting.

"You know it'd be much easier if you stopped chanting such a negative phrase." Her mother said when she entered her room, carrying a tray of milk and cookies."

"Thanks Mom!" Mikan said as her mother set the tray on her table. She looked at what her daughter was reading and frowned. "Mikan... haven't you been reading that same page when I came in here last?"

Mikan waved her hand, dismissing what her mother said, "You haven't been gone that long Mom."

"Well I suppose that forty-five minutes isn't that long." Mrs. Sakura remarked receiving an annoyed look from her daughter. She smiled at her, "Like I said Mikan, why don't you think of nice things while studying. You're an optimist so it should be easy for you." And with that, she left the room, closing the door as she did.

Mikan stared at her close door and then went back to her studying, slumping her head on the notebook. "Positive thoughts..." She murmured on the lined paper against her face.

"Positive thoughts..." She said again, she closed her eyes to remember every little happy thing that happened to her... a not-so distant memory came into her mind.

_She heard the door creak open and gently close. She turned her head to where the sound came and smiled, knowing who it was who came to visit her. For her new friend would enter her room silently since he was a mute._

_"You came to visit again!" She said happily when she felt her friend sit on the chair next to her bed. She smelled a pleasant perfume under her nose. She felt for what was held out for her and her smile grew bigger. "You brought me a flower!" She exclaimed as she held the hand that was holding up the flower and turned her head to where she thought her friend would be. _

_"Thank you!"_

_And she felt his own hand wrap hers. And she could distinctly remember the warmth his hands emitted and how it warmed her._

_The days when her mother or her friends couldn't visit her... when she could see nothing but darkness were supposed to be the loneliest days of her life..._

_"But... when you came in my room that day, I had the sudden hope to get better soon..."_

_"Mikan... Mikan..."_

_"So that I could see the person who gave me hope to see..."_

_"Mikan..."_

_"...Without saying a word..."_

_"Mikan..."_

_"So that I could see _you_..."_

"MIKAN!"

Mikan bolted up straight from her position, her back sour from sleeping while sitting and resting her head on the table. She looked at the person who woke her up with drowsy eyes. "What is it mom?"

Her mother sighed.

"You're late for school."

_Ticktickticktickticktickticktick..._

"WHAAAATT??"

* * *

"Eehhh... I'm being punished again..." She said as she scrubbed the toilet with a toothbrush. Her stomach growled. A depressed aura loomed over Mikan's head. "I didn't have breakfast and forgot my bento because I was in such a hurry... And I still ended up late."

"Mikan..." She looked up to see a head floating above the cubicle she was in again and she jumped, screaming.

"Idiot. You know it's me." Hotaru said passively as she opened the cubicle.

"I-I-I knew! But you shouldn't do that! It's really creepy!"

"Yes, and you're an idiot. Now that's enough scrubbing."

"But Kuroda said to scrub until it sparkles!"

Hotaru looked at the toilet that her friend was currently cleaning that was practically transparent from scrubbing already.

"Tell me something, do you want to keep on scrubbing the toilet, or do you want to pass that math test?"

Mikan stopped and looked at her. _"That's right... I wasn't able to study properly... and if I don't I'd be..."_ A horrid look crossed her features. _"I'll be THAT DEVIL'S slave!" _She imagined Natsume looking like a devil, complete with horns and a tail, and her bowing down his feet.

"I DON'T WANNA BE A BOOTLICKER!" She cried out.

"If you really don't want to be that guy's sycophant, then I advise you to stop that scrubbing." She said as she was about to leave the girl's room.

"Hotaru..." Mikan said as she grinned at her and threw arms around her. "You're the best!" She said as Hotaru pushed her off of her.

"Don't touch me. Kami forbid I know where those hands of yours had come from."

* * *

"Alrighty then! It's time to start this studying!" Mikan declared as she settled down on one of the long table in the school library. Her friends had offered to help her but she denied them for she knew that if she sought help from them, she would lose.

"Okay, I have enough time to study! You can do this Sakura!" She said, wrapping around a headband on her forehead with the Japanese flag on it and opened her Algebra book and took out her pencil and a piece of paper to do some computations.

Problem after problem, she answered them all, consulting her book every now and then to check her answer and beaming when she got them right, proud of herself. "There now, it isn't that hard." She told herself as she continued.

But like many math tests, the problems would naturally get harder and harder, and it gave Mikan a major headache when she had to confront a fairly difficult question found in her book. She looked for samples in her textbook but found none, she searched her notes and also it bore no use at all. Heck, she even looked up some of the books in the library and found nothing that could be perfectly understood.

"WaahH!! This is so hard!" She cried out, making the librarian give her a stern look.

"What's so hard?" Someone from behind her asked, she turned around to see the other Teen Celebrity behind her, a bandanna covering his face.

"Hey, what's with the--"

"Don't ask." He said as he took a book from the shelf and covered his face from any wandering fan girls. He looked at the problem she was troubling about. "Hey, that's not to hard. All you have to do is use the formula--"

"GYAAH!" Mikan shriek, not wanting to hear it. The librarian looked at her again with a menacing glare. Mikan whispered her apologies and turned to Ruka.

"Sorry, Nogi-san, but I can't ask for your help. If I did then I would be admitting defeat." She stated.

Ruka looked at her, perplexed, but then he understood, "Oh so this was what Natsume was talking about. Ok then, I won't help you. And you can call me Ruka."

"Alright then Ruka, I think you should know that there's an exit behind those shelves." She said, pointing at the shelves across her.

He smiled at her gratefully, since there was a mob that was ready to stampede him if he used the main exit.

"Good luck with that." And he dashed off.

Mikan smiled after him, and it instantly faded as she sighed and slumped her head in defeat, resting her head from the passed two hours of studying. She cradled her head in her arms, thinking that it would be okay to just rest a bit, and then maybe when she awoke, she would know the answer.

At that moment, she felt a shadow looming over her.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

"Excuse me miss..." Mikan felt someone shaking her awake. She stirred and saw a young man with glasses getting her to wake up.

"Huh... Wha...?" She mumbled as she rubbed her eyes.

"Sorry, but it's already closing time. It's 5:30."The student explained. Mikan's eyes widened and bolted up.

"OH DAMN! I FELL ASLEEP AGAIN!"

* * *

Mikan forked her food and popped it in her mouth, gloomy.

"Now, now, gloomy people aren't allowed on this table." Her mother said as she ate some of her teriyaki.

Mikan looked at her mother's face and shook her head vigorously, her mood changing."That's right! If I stay depressed then I won't be able to get any where! I'M NOT GIVING UP!" She declared as she finished her food and raced up to her room and reviewed her notes and finally reached the problem that bothered her the most and saw that it was...

...Answered?

She looked at it, bemused. "But how did--" She started and then stared at it for a moment, thinking who could have answered it.

_"Don't tell me it was Hotaru or Yuu!" _She thought in panic. If she had help from anybody _but_ THAT bastard, then she'd lose. She sighed and looked at the paper with all the right answers, she could understand everything, it all looked so complex, but when she did everything step by step and practiced, she learned everything in one night.

"It's not like he'll know, _right_?"

* * *

**After the retake test...**

Hotaru waited for her best friend to finish the test. She knew that her idiot of a friend stayed up late to study. She smiled one of her rare smiles. The other thing she liked about Mikan was her ability to stay strong and determined when something difficult as a Math test came her way.

Not that Math was difficult.

"HOTARU!" She looked up to see her waving at her, grinning proudly as she made her way to her.

She didn't need to ask how the test went since her smile said it all. "Hotaru! Everything I studied came out! look!" She pulled out her checked test paper with a solid 79 percent on the right-hand side of the paper. Not the highest score, but high nonetheless.

"Well I suppose that your going to let him see this?" At that question, Mikan looked down, a guilty look on her face.

"Hotaru, did you answer this yesterday by any chance? When I was asleep in the library?" She held up a paper filled with computations. Hotaru looked at it for a moment before answering.

"No, I didn't. Yuu and I were busy with the Student Council yesterday until late." She answered flatly.

"Oh... Then, thanks a lot Hotaru! I gotta go now!" Mikan said, waving goodbye to her best friend, the two papers in her hand, and suddenly a strong wind blew, causing one of them to fly off with the wind.

"Oh darn!" Mikan exclaimed as she tried to catch it.

"Idiot." Hotaru muttered and walked away.

Mikan desperately chased the paper as if she'd die if she were to lose it. And then the piece of scratch paper slapped the face of a particular student. Mikan went towards him and bowed to him in apology. "Sorry! That's mine." She looked up and froze.

Hyuuga Natsume stood before her, the piece of paper in his hands and he was reading its contents. "It looks like you've been studying hard." He said.

Mikan slowly nodded and remembered her test and that she passed. "THAT'S RIGHT! I PASSED, SEE!" She unfolded the test paper in her hand and showed it to him.

"I see," He stoically said, looking at the scratch paper in his hand. "You studied this, didn't you?" He asked her.

"Yeah, I did. So what?"

"Did you get the last question right?"

"Uhmmm... yeah... every formula!"

Natsume raised the scratch paper up for her to see. "You don't know whose handwriting this is, do you?"

Mikan slowly shook her head, _"I don't know where he's going to with this..."_

Natsume smirked, "That's MY handwriting."

_A bomb ticking..._

"WHAT?!"

"Idiot, you didn't notice my note at the end."

Mikan grabbed the paper from him and scanned the page slowly and found it.

_To the Idiot,_

_Just thought I'd make your life easier. _

P.S.

_You don't have to study it if you don't want to._

_-Hyuuga._

"It's there... HOW COME I DIDN'T NOTICE THAT LAST NIGHT?!"

"It looks like I've won." Mikan turned stiffly to Natsume. He had a smirk on his face.

"So, _slave_, is Saturday a good day?"

That day, Mikan's world started to turn in a counterclockwise rotation.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

WAHAHAHA!! FINISHED!

And at 3:00 AM too. ( - )

Well I hope you enjoyed that!! It was a long and fun chapter to write and I expect another fun chapter next time!

I gotta say that I can't promise a fast update but you can expect one in the Holidays!

Please leave your comments and suggestions by reviewing.

THEY HELP A LOT!! Especially constructive criticisms.

Well then, until next chapter,

BlakRythem out!


	4. Attack

**Disclaimer:** BlakRythem does not own Gakuen Alice! She is merely using the characters for torturing/fan fiction purposes. I also do not own any Aston Martin SUV s... (We're too poor to afford such a car.)

**Summary: **When the cold-hearted teen idol Hyuuga Natsume asks you out, you aren't supposed to say no. Sakura Mikan did. And she ended up being his girlfriend... Forcibly, of course.

**Author's Note:** As promised! The third installment to "Love Knots"!! And just before New Year!! I would like to thank all my reviewers for their kind words and support. And of course, I thank you, dear reader for reading this fan fiction of mine! I truly enjoyed making this chapter and I hope you'll enjoy it as much as you did the previous one!

NOTE: In this chapter, I will demonstrate the reason why this fic was rated T. There WILL be coarse language. But only a little and it's the kind you usually hear in TV shows (The rated PG ones, obviously.)... but still... Yeah, I'm just warning you because I myself don't really use words like that much. Heh.

ONWARDS!!

* * *

** Love Knots **

By

**BlakRythem**

**Chapter 3: Attack.  
**

Natsume raised the scratch paper up for her to see. "You don't know whose handwriting this is, do you?"

Mikan slowly shook her head, _"I don't know where he's going to with this..."_

Natsume smirked, "That's MY handwriting."

_A bomb ticking..._

"WHAT?!"

"So, _slave_, is Saturday a good day?"

That day, Mikan's world started to turn in a counterclockwise rotation.

"Y-YOU JERK!!! YOU CHEATED!!! I NEVER ASKED FOR YOUR HELP!!"

Natsume shrugged, "Cheated? I don't believe I did such a thing. It was YOU who chose to study a stranger's answers on your own." He smirked, "In fact, you didn't know that it came from me and _still_ helped yourself with it."

Mikan felt herself crack. That cold hearted bastard had set for her a trap... and she fell right into it in her own accord.

.....................................................................

"YOU BASTARD!!!!!"

* * *

**Thursday. Lunchtime.**

_GLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM....._

The four friends looked at the brunette in concern as she stuck an onigiri in her mouth and kept it there... hanging.

After the events that occurred the day before, Mikan Sakura has not been acting like her usual, happy self. And this truly worried her friends who rarely saw that glum look that Mikan wore at that very moment.

"Uummm... Mikan-chan? Would you like to share some of my bento?" Anna offered her as she raised her bento in front of Mikan. Mikan snapped out of her daze and looked at Anna with teary eyes. And without warning, she threw her arms around her friend, desperate for comfort.

"Waaahh!!! Anna-chan!! It's the end of my life!!" She cried, wetting Anna's clean uniform. Anna smiled and patted her head, offering words of comfort.

"There, there... It's only one date right? It's not like you're gonna be together after that!"

"Yes! But Mikan-chan! I really wish I was in your shoes!! It's not every day that you get asked out by a famous celebrity." Nonoko piped in.

Mikan's sobs grew louder, to the point of wailing.

"Now nobody will go near me with THOSE prying eyes always following me!!"

Yuu scratched his head. "What do you mean, Mikan-chan?"

**_Flashback... A few hours ago..._**

_Mikan was carrying a pile of paper work her teacher had asked her to bring to the teacher's lounge. Still very disturbed by what happened the day before, she was caught in a daze, and therefore did not notice a boy going in her direction. And it was too late before..._

_SPAP!!_

_Their bodies collided, and paper went flying everywhere._

_"I'm really sorry!" Mikan apologized to the student, bowing as she did so. "I wasn't watching where I was going!"_

_The boy smiled as he helped her pick up the scattered paper. "That's alright. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going to anyways." He said as he fixed the pile and handed it to Mikan._

_Mikan beamed at him. "Thank you!" The boy smiled back at her, and was about to tell her something else before he froze up._

_"Uh-uh-ummm... I'm... I'M REALLY SORRY! I'M GOING NOW!" He stammered and ran off, scared._

_Mikan watched in bewilderment as he cowered off, and she knew exactly WHY he did._

_Right behind her was the person who she recently awarded as 'Most Hated Person in the World". And he had been trailing her all morning. Glaring at any admirer who dared to come in a range of two feet from her._

_"WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?!" She screamed at him._

_"Since we're going out, I don't think it right for you to look at other guys while I look only at you." He answered her.  
_

_Mikan was about to blow her top. "Who do you think you are?" She shouted at him._

_Natsume smirked. "Does that question need an answer?"  
_

**_End of flashback._**

"Well... that doesn't... really seem... bad?" Yuu said, a bit unsure of what he just said. Mikan continued to sob. "My lifespan has been shortened to mere DAYS!!!"

"I'm done." Hotaru said as she put her _bento(1)_ in her bag and stood up to leave.

"Watch your back." Mikan looked up at her with her tear-streaked face, confused of what her best friend had just said to her.

"Ho-Hotaru?"

"I---------diot." Hotaru said monotonously before turning to leave.

Mikan blinked. "Uuummm... what did Hotaru-chan mean when she said; 'Watch your back.' to Mikan-chan?" Anna asked them.

They all shrugged, unable to comprehend the quirky genius' words.

After Hotaru had gone, the whole group had dispersed to go about their business before the school bell rings, signifying the start of the next class.

"Would you like to come with us, Mikan? I'm sure Misaki-sensei would like the extra help with the garden." Nonoko asked her.

Mikan smiled, "Sure! I'll catch up with you guys. I need to leave some stuff in the locker." And off she went to the locker area.

Her horrible fate was still embedded in her mind, and though her friends were trying so hard to comfort her, nothing would change the fact that she was now the slave of that arrogant, conceited, self-centered, rude, mean and....

_SPLASH!!_

Cold water suddenly met with her body, soaking her to the bone and leaving her both surprised and enraged at the same time. She looked up from where she suspected the attack came from but was unceremoniously pushed back to the locker behind her, her head hitting the cold, hard metal. She looked up at her pursuer and realized that it was one of the known upperclassmen in school with her few other friends. Deep frowns were etched on their faces. They were pretty much angrier than she was at that moment.

"You--" Mikan started before her senpai, 'Rika', laughed cruelly. "I'm sorry, I just thought that you needed a nice cold wake up call." Her companions laughed at her statement.

"W-Wake up call?" Mikan repeated, not fully comprehending what she had just said. She was pushed further back to the locker, her soaked skin touching the cold metal. She shivered.

"Let me make this clear for your obviously, underdeveloped brain. NATSUME-SAMA is not yours! If you think that I will allow such a low-level bitch like you to steal him away from us, then you're obviously mistaken." Rika icily said, digging her long nails deeper in Mikan's uniform.

Mikan glared at her, "If you think that I'm here to steal your precious _prince_, then you're obviously wrong! If you want him, then you can have him! I don't want anything to do with that bastard--" At the end of her brave monologue, a strong hand landed on her cheek, making her head twist, and her cheek ache. The older girl grabbed the hair at the back of her head and made her look at her furious eyes. Her grip on her hair vice-like.

"_NEVER _call Natsume-sama a bastard, you low-life! You don't deserve to be hanging around him. He's a prince that is only worthy of someone up to his level." She hissed at her. "Now say that you'll never see him again or so help me I will haunt you even after you graduate from this school!"

She didn't say anything. And she wondered why. It would have been easier for her if she did. Rika would have left her alone and she would be rid of Natsume. But somehow, she couldn't find herself to say it.

"SAY IT!!" Rika screamed as she readied to launch another slap.

But before she could, water as cold as the one they dumped on Mikan, was dumped on them, making them scream. Rika let go of Mikan, surprised from the unexpected attack and leaving her baffled by just who dumped the water on her.

"I-IMAI!"

Hotaru was holding a giant elephant, an invention that she had been working on. Her eyes had changed from her calm lavenders, to cold and steely ones. She was obviously unhappy of the treatment her best friend had just received.

"This idiot.... Can only be tortured by me. Girls with dirty faces like yours have no right to be here."

Rika and her friends glared at her. "Damn. Having someone like Imai as a friend... We'll come back Sakura!" She yelled as she and her friends ran off.

Hotaru walked to a baffled Mikan and threw a towel on her face. Mikan, unsure of what just happened, accepted the towel, and rubbed her face dry. She looked at her best friend.

"Idiot. I told you to watch your back." Hotaru merely said as she helped her up. Tears welled up in Mikan's eyes. Not because of the pain that spread on the back of her head, or her stinging cheek, but because her best friend had just protected her from being hurt. She threw her arms around her. "Thank you, Hotaru!"

Hotaru let her hug her. She patted her back in a kind gesture. "Don't worry. They won't be back. Those girls only lacked attention."

Mikan didn't answer. It was all _that_ guy's fault that she was bruised up and was feeling cold that day. She thought as she and Hotaru went to the Infirmary for some change of clothes.

"I guess being the granddaughter of the owner of your school has its benefits."

* * *

**Friday.**

An ice bag on her cheek, aspirin for her head, and her pride intact. These were her few companions the night after that dreadful encounter. Of course, her mother was concerned when she showed up looking horrible, and her yet to be dried uniform in a paper bag.

"Water balloon fight." She had lied, not wanting her mother to worry about her. Her mother was too busy with work and raising a kid all at once. Mikan thought that she didn't need extra stress. Though she so wanted to run into her and cling to her, wanting to shout out what her problem was... and it went by the name of Hyuuga Natsume.

"Oi."

_"Speak of the devil_." Mikan thought as she continued to cradle her head on her desk, ignoring him.

Upon her arrival that morning, the class, which was usually noisy early in the morning, hushed when she opened the door and greeted her happy "Good Morning!" to them.

Every Hyuuga-fan that existed in that class looked at her in annoyance, and every time she tried to make a conversation with them, she was pushed away. The only people who got near her were her friends, and they couldn't do anything to help her except be there.

And to make things worse, Hotaru was absent for the day for family reasons.

Yes, her day was not going well at all. And the root of her problems talking to her was not making it any better.

"Oi, don't you know that it's rude to ignore people who are talking to you?"

"Just leave me alone, you jjeeerrrkk!!" She shouted, unable to control the anger that was brewing inside of her, surprising everyone.

"Mikan..." Yuu started.

"Hold on a minute, Sakura! You have no right to call Natsume-kun a jerk! As far as it's been said, _you _are the jerk here! Getting to be partners with a famous celebrity and treating them so rudely!! Natsume-kun has been exceptionally good to you, so why can't you be good to him?!" Sumire said angrily.

"Well excuse me..." Mikan said in gritted teeth, "But I've been giving YOUR Teen Idol the same respect that he gives me!! I don't get why he's so popular! HE'S AN ENEMY TO ALL WOMEN!!"

"Why you--."

"Enough."

They all turned to Natsume, he looked at them, warning them not to do anything.

"Natsume-kun..."

"Natsume..."

Before anyone could say anything, Mikan stormed out of the classroom.

"It's free period anyway!" She seethed to herself, before bumping into someone's chest.

"Sorry!" She apologized and looked up and realized that it was...

"Ruka..."

Ruka scratched his head. "Sakura-san... What are you doing out here?"

"It's free period so, I thought that I should get some fresh air." She answered him, half lying.

Ruka looked at her for a moment, "Are you sure you're okay? You don't look too good."

Mikan tried to laugh, "Of course I'm okay! What made you think..." She stopped, seeing that Ruka was not at all convinced. She sighed, "No... I'm not okay."

"Well... I don't know if I can be a lot of help or anything, but since you are friends with Natsume--"

"HE IS NOT MY FRIEND! I WOULD RATHER BE EATEN BY DOGS THAN BE FRIENDS WITH HIM!" She cupped her mouth, realizing that she just blurted that out... to Natsume's best friend.

Ruka was stunned, hearing those words come out of her mouth and then, a smile rose on his lips, then he started... laughing? Mikan looked at him, puzzled. "What's so funny?"

Ruka settled himself before answering her, laughter still evident in his voice, "It's nothing. It's just that... I never heard a girl speak that way about Natsume before."

Mikan's confusion grew as he said that, "So... that's something to be proud about?"

Ruka shook his head. "Not really, you're just so different from the other girls. It's no wonder he's hanging out with you." At that statement, Mikan looked down. _"No... there was a time that I really liked him."_ Ruka noticed her glum look.

"You may not like Natsume now... but he's a really nice guy." Mikan looked up at him, Ruka had a thoughtful look on his face.

"That Natsume... he doesn't know how to express his feelings with words, genius he may be. He may be loved by thousands of girls all over the country, and admired by most of the boys, but he never felt real love coming from anyone before."

Mikan sighed, "You really are a nice guy, aren't you, Ruka? Like the magazines I've read said."

Ruka cocked his head, "What made you say that?"

"Because you're best friends with someone like that." Mikan grinned, "You must really be like Buddha!!" She declared, making Ruka jump in embarrassment. "Umm... no, not really... well..."

Mikan laughed at the sight of his face, red from embarrassment.

The both of them walked back to class together. Unknown to them, deep, piercing eyes were watching them.

* * *

**After P.E. Class.**

"Owww..."

"Oh gosh... are you alright, Mikan? Do you want me to get an ice bag for you?" Yuu asked the brunette. The whole class played dodge ball and, much to Mikan's dismay, all the girl's in the class (Excluding Anna and Nonoko) had planned to aim only at her. Mikan was left with bruises that day... and was left to pick up all the balls and return them to the stock room.

"No, that's okay, Iinchou... But thanks for helping me with the balls anyway." Yuu smiled at her as he handed her the last ball. "You're welcome. If you're sure you're okay, then I'll go on ahead. We have a Student Council meeting today." Mikan nodded at him, "Sure! You go on ahead! I'll lock up here." She said enthusiastically, picking up some of the remaining balls.

Mikan whistled to herself as she pushed the cart filled dodge balls back to the stock room. That afternoon, she decided to forget about the things that happened to her that week and think about what she would do with her last moments of freedom.

She pushed the cart against the wall along with the other carts. "Phew! There! I'm done!!" She exclaimed, wiping the sweat off of her forehead. Before she could turn around to leave, a creepy voice from behind her said,

"Hey there, little missy. Why don't you come and play with us?"

----------------------------------------------------------

_A few minutes ago._

"So that's the girl, huh?" A tall boy wearing sunglasses whispered, eyeing the brunette as she picked the balls up from the ground.

"Wow she's cute!!" Another boy, chubbier than the first, put in.

"That's right... I want you two to _play_ with her." A girl said in a low voice.

"And don't even think about letting her go until she says she gives up."

The two boys laughed. "Oh don't worry, we won't even think about stopping."

The girl snickered. "We'll see if you'll still feel aggressive after this, Sakura Mikan."

* * *

**Classroom.**

Natsume sat on his desk in the only empty and locked classroom. It was already the end of classes, the bell chimed, signaling that all students must vacate the school. Yet not all the students left the school, oh no. Instead, they all gathered outside the very classroom the Teen Idols were staying in, eager to meet them in person.

"Still not back, eh?"

Natsume turned his head to his best friend. Ruka smiled at him, "Sakura-san, I mean." Natsume looked away from him.

"Yeah, well she _is_ my slave after all. Taking the _Vantage_ today?" Ruka nodded and then sighed, "Yeah, well it is kinda difficult to get away with all those girls stalking you." He pointed outside the classroom, where all the girls were peeking at them. They all squealed when they saw him pointing at them. "Wanna lift?"

"No... I'd rather walk today."

Ruka chuckled, knowing what was in his best friend's mind. "Sakura-san's a great person."

"Hn."

"I mean, she's different from all the girls who try to smother us here. She treats us like normal people. The fan girls would do anything to try and get to be with us, but not her."

At that statement, Natsume bolted up from his position, a look so unfamiliar to Ruka came across his face.

"Natsume?"

"I have to go." Natsume said, maintaining his composure as he opened the classroom's window. Ruka looked at him, bewildered. "What are you doing?!"

Natsume looked at him, "Taking a shortcut." He said, as if people normally jump out of the window from the second floor. Before Ruka could stop him, Natsume leaped out. Ruka ran to the window and saw Natsume land safely on the ground.

"That guy really amazes me sometimes."

* * *

Natsume ran to the stockroom as fast as his legs could get him. _"That idiot."_ He thought repeatedly.

_"The fan girls would do anything to try and get to be with us, but not her."_

"Stupid idiot." He muttered angrily when he reached the stockroom.

"**_NNOOOOO!!! I'LL NEVER SAY IT!!!_**" Mikan's shriek alarmed Natsume even more, without thinking twice, he knocked the door down with his shoulder. _"I swear if they did something to you, I'll kill them!"_

"MI---" He stopped, and tried to register the sight that was before him.

There sat Mikan, with two other boys from the upper class, on the ground with playing cards on their hands. She was looking horridly at her cards, and the two boys were laughing at her. "Come on! Admit it! You lost! You can't possibly play another round!"

"NO WAY!! I'LL NEVER ADMIT DEFEAT!!! AGAIN! AGAIN!" Mikan cried stubbornly, waving her deck around.

Natsume sweat dropped at the sight. "What the..."

The three of them quieted down and looked up at him.

"It's Hyuuga Natsume!!!" The one with the sunglasses exclaimed as he jumped up to meet him, he was pushed away by a very annoyed celebrity. He went towards Mikan, wanting the answers from her. "What were you doing with these guys?"

Mikan crossed her arms together, annoyed. "We were playing 'Go Fish'. Just because I get to be your slave for the rest of your stay here, doesn't mean you have the right to deprive me of any fun!!"

"W-WHAT IS THIS?!"

They all turned around and saw Rika and a group of her friends. With the looks of her, she was not pleased to see what was before her.

"Rika-san! We did what you told us to! We _played_ with her!!" The chubby guy said proudly.

"It wasn't easy! She wouldn't give up, no matter how hard we tried to persuade her. But we never stopped playing, like you told us to, Rika." The guy with the sunglasses added.

At that moment, Rika burst. "YOU IDIOTS!! I DIDN'T MEAN FOR YOU TO PLAY 'GO FISH' WITH HER WHEN I SAID _'PLAY WITH HER'_!!!"

"Oh? Then what _did_ you mean when you asked them to _play_ with her?" Natsume asked her acidly.

The girls gulped. No one could answer him... especially when his steely red eyes were practically piercing them.

Natsume went over to Rika and looked down at her. "What _were_ you planning to do to her?" Rika stood there, frozen. At that very moment, _The _Hyuuga Natsume was standing right in front of her, looking down at her with those unforgiving eyes.

"They must have meant to play _'Butanoshippo'(2)_, right?" Mikan happily said.

"EEEHHHHHHH????" Everyone in the room said in unison (Except for Natsume, who only had a look of surprise on his face), astounded of how innocent the brunette was.

Mikan had a smile on her face, "Of course, that's more fun compared to 'Go Fish'!"

All the fan girls there nodded vigorously with the suggestion the innocent brunette made.

"Yes! That's right!"

"What better game than our own Japanese game, right?"

"Right, right! Much better than a _gaijin_'s(3)!!"

Natsume sighed and rubbed his temples. "I'll let it go this time." He looked at his fan girls, who all immediately silenced. "But try hurting her again, and I'll give all of you a restraining order."

"YES, NATSUME-SAMA!!!" They all shouted together, bowing to him.

"Now scat."

In a split second, they were gone, leaving the two alone. Natsume turned to Mikan and reached for her to...

Flick her (with his hand) on her forehead... hard.

"OOWW!!! YOU JERK!! WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!" Mikan shouted at him as she rubbed her forehead, where Natsume's hard fingernail's had hit her.

"That's for being an idiot!"

"The only idiot I see here is you! IDIOT! Your fan girls have been attacking me the whole day because of you! And you went on ruining the only fun I had today!" She accused him ignorantly, making Natsume become more annoyed with her than he already was.

His lip twitched, but then decided to keep his cool. "Fine then. Since all of that was my fault, then I'll need to keep a _closer_ eye at you. Starting now."

"And who do you think you are to think that you can do that? My boyfriend?"

"Well since we are going out, I AM."

"WHAT?!"

Oh yes, Mikan's life was just starting to get even _better_.

"By the way, on our date, we're watching 'Lizard baby'(4) tomorrow." Natsume said bluntly, as he followed Mikan to the train station, ignoring the people who were looking at him, and screaming his name.

"I don't like that movie!! And it's not a date!! AND STOP FOLLOWING ME!!!!!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

1. Bento- Lunchbox

2. Butanoshippo- Japanese card game. Literally means, _Pig Tail_. (Don't you just love wikipedia??)

3. Gaijin- Japanese term for "Foreigner"

4. "Lizard Baby"- a 2004 Japanese horror flick directed by Yoshihiro Nakamura.

**FINALLY DONE!!!**

And it was fun too!! Ehhh... I think this is the very first fic that I ever tortured Mikan!!

Anyway, I'd like to thank my friend, fReAkLaNcEr for proof reading my work!!

And I'd also like to thank YOU for finding the time to read this!!

I don't really know when the next time I'll be able to update... probably within March...

But I WILL!!!!

And before you close this window... please review!! I'd like to know what your opinion is! I would also like to get some suggestions and constructive criticisms!!!

A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!!!

Until next chapter,

BlakRythem out!!


	5. Date

**Disclaimer:** I, BlakRythem, do not own any Gakuen Alice characters nor do I own it's awesomely thought out plot!! -Sigh- But I do own this… -Reaches for something- STICK! Oh, and this story to… yeah… I own it. Oh yeah... I don't own Lizard Baby or Howl's Moving Castle too... So no suing!

**Summary:**When the cold-hearted teen idol Hyuuga Natsume asks you out, you aren't supposed to say no. Sakura Mikan did. And she ended up being his girlfriend... Forcibly, of course.

**Author's Note: **First of all, I AM SO SORRY!! -bows down.- For not updating in time and instead updating three months from the promised update... date. Yeah, you get it. Well, I don't really have much of an excuse except that life got sorta interesting. And I really needed to find some ways to make this chapter a lot more interesting than what I previously planned and less stereotypical. (Ehehehe... -slowly stumbles-) But anyway! The new chapter's here!!! And thank you for your kind reviews! They are very much appreciated!

Again, I apologize for any grammatical errors.

ONWARDS!!

* * *

**Love Knots**

**By: BlakRythem**

"_You know, Moku? When I get my eyesight back, I wanna try all sorts of things! I might start watching horror movies for a change, and start collecting that 'xxxx' manga that Anna-chan's been talking about! I also heard that "Howl's Moving Castle is also pretty good. And I can't wait to try out that new candy that everyone's been talking about lately... I think that was howalon?"_

_He didn't reply, he never did. The only thing that reassured her of his presence was his warm hands holding hers; she smiled at her silent companion._

"_Do you know what I look forward to see the most when I get better?" He squeezed her hand and then…_

_He started… singing?_

"_Ima kimi no sugu soba de wakachi aeru mainichi—"_

"**GEEEEEYYYYAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!"**

Mikan bolted up from her bed. "EH? It was all a dream?" She asked herself, somewhat relieved to know that it was. She groaned and lied back on her bed and pulled the covers over her head. She reached out to the floor and searched for the source of her awakening.

"_Pika Pika no Taiyou no youni~~ BEEP!!"_

"Hello?"

"_SAKURA MIKAN… I hope you're not taking me for a fool." _The voice from the other line uttered with an acidity of 1.0.

Mikan groaned, and sleepily asked the irate caller, "Who is this?"

"………………………………………"

After a moment of silence from our dear brunette and the dark aura radiating from the mobile phone, she finally bolted up and…

"GYYAAAHH!!!! I FORGOT THAT IT WAS TODAY!!"

* * *

**Chapter 4: Date.**

"EEEHHH!!! EVEN ON DAYS LIKE THESE I'M LATE!"

She walked to the monument where they agreed to meet (Actually, more like, him telling her where they'd meet). She looked around for the raven haired celebrity. She frowned.

"Now where the heck is that imbe— Oof!" She started before bumping into someone's back. A boy taller than her, wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt, a baseball cap covered a mass of black hair, and big black sunglasses that concealed the glare that would have matched well with the scowl on his face.

"So sorry." Mikan quickly apologized to the boy, a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach. She was about to walk away before the boy suddenly grabbed her wrist.

"H-Hey!" She yelped before she was pulled back to face him. She glared at him.

"You're late." He said in an all too familiar voice and an all too familiar tone.

After seconds of processing the information that was bestowed upon the young brunette, she came up with the only and obvious conclusion.

"HYUUGA NATSU—" She was about to say out before the young man smothered her words with his hand. "Don't call me that here… unless you want to have a field day with a few of those rabid fan girls." He said and then released her.

Mikan huffed, pushing away from Natsume and fixing her jacket. She looked at him from head to toe.

And then she burst out laughing. "W-what's with that get up? You look like you're about to rob a convenient store—OW!!" She cried out when the annoyed Teen Idol flicked her forehead.

"What was that for?!"

"For being a loud-mouth." He said and started walking, expecting her to follow alongside him, and when she didn't, he looked back at her and said, "Well? Are you just gonna stand there and gawk all day?"

Mikan sighed and followed him, "This is gonna be a loooooooong day." She muttered.

......................

......................................

....................................................

"So what's the agenda for the day, Natsume-_sama_?" Mikan asked him stiffly, just to break the heavy tension that surrounded them as they walked.

"We're going to watch "Lizard Baby" at a cinema we own." He said, ignoring how she emphasized the honorific.

Mikan looked at him in surprise, _'E-eh? That disgusting horror movie that was out five years ago? Who said that I wanted to watch that? Is this guy dreaming or something? And what's with the "We own the cinema" part?'_

"Ah... I remember watching that when I was in elementary school." She said with displeasure. "I don't want to watch that disgusting movie again." She mumbled to herself, earning a death glare from the raven-haired celebrity. "I-I mean... I've always wanted to watch that movie! I'm so excited!" She said with false glee.

"Hn. Okay then."

_'Someone... help me...'_ She cried out inwardly

--------------------

_"You... You ate Taro!"_

_"A-Anata... I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, (1)aka-chan! Mommy didn't know that you wanted to eat something alive!"_

Mikan felt nauseated by the scene. It was the part where the protagonist finds out that his beloved dog named Taro was eaten by his Lizard-turned child. After thirty damned whole minutes seated in the cinema right next to her so-called _date_, she still wondered what made the usually composed Hyuuga Natsume think that such a disgusting and somewhat creepy horror movie would appeal to her. _'What is up with this guy? I watched this before and I had nothing but nightmares for a whole week!'_

_'This really sucks! I wonder why this guy is so insistent anyway? The way I remember it, he was the one who bullied me when we were young.' _Mikan contemplated, her mind wandering, _'When I'm with Natsume... I feel nothing but anxiety, annoyance and dread_._ It feels as if I'm trapped in a cage. Is this how a slave feels??_' Mikan felt like crying. "Stupid bet." She mumbled to herself glumly, suddenly feeling Natsume's gaze on her as she said this.

_'I wish Hotaru were here...'_

Mikan suddenly felt a hand on top of her own on the arm rest of the seat.

"You know, if you're scared of this crappy horror movie... you have my permission to cling on to me." Her companion mumbled, while looking straight at the screen. (This is Hyuuga Natsume's attempt to act _suave_.)

Mikan felt herself heat up.

"AND JUST WHO WOULD GET SCARED AT A TIME LIKE THIS??" She blurted out, "And what do _you mean 'I have your permission'_???" She added, before something hard hit her head. It was a can of soda. And it was still full.

"PIPE DOWN!! WE'RE TRYIN' TO WATCH HERE!!"

Mikan apologized to whoever threw the can at her before going back to watching. She sighed, not daring to look at Natsume. She clenched her hand. Somehow, she felt a weird feeling at the pit of her stomach.

Then came the part where the protagonist was slowly losing his sanity.

And Mikan was just about to lose hers.

* * *

**After the movie**...

"I think I'm gonna puke." Mikan slurred out when they made their way out of the theater. And then Natsume handed her something. A... DVD? She gave him a look that shouted out "WHAAAAT?"

"Since we really don't have time to watch everything, you can borrow this." He said. Mikan looked at the DVD of... _"Howl's Moving Castle"_?

She looked up at him. "This movie..."

And he looked at her, "What?"

.............

"I already watched it." She said to him, almost too honestly and even mumbled, "Four times and I have two copies of it."

Natsume felt a vein pop and took the DVD from her and whacked it on her head. "Well watch it again." He said, throwing it back at her. "Now let's go." He started on without her.

"THAT HURT YOU JERK!!!" She shouted at him, rubbing her sore cranium and caught the DVD just in time.

"Wait up you dirty _(2)kappa_! I said that I already watched this!" She ran after him, waving the DVD in the air while Natsume continued to ignore her, and then....

BOG!  
CRASH!  
FWOP!

And whatever sound FX there is for a clumsy person falling down on a ground that was as plane as paper. "What a total klutz." Natsume murmured to himself before helping his date up, and saw that her face was wet with tears, and her nose was running and bleeding at the same time at the sudden impact that her face had with the ground.

"Oi, why are y--" And then, while his guard was off, Mikan punched him on the face, making him fall down.

"That's pay back for hitting me on the head!" She said, with a triumphant and satisfied smile on her face, though her nose was still running and bleeding.

Natsume rubbed his cheek and glared at the supposedly innocent brunette until...

"Hyuu...ga... Natsume?" Natsume looked up at the mention of his name, and then realized a very important fact.

The sunglasses and the hat that were supposed to conceal his real identity all fell off when Mikan had hit him.

Now everyone knew that he is in fact the Teen Celebrity Hyuuga Natsume. And they also witnessed a random girl punching him on the face.

"Run." He said to Mikan, standing up as he did so.

Mikan looked at him, clueless, "Why?"

"HEY YOU!! YOU DARE TO BRUISE OUR NATSUME-SAMA'S FACE??? YOU'RE GOING DOWN YOU SKANK!!" A woman yelled at Mikan and at that moment, Natsume grabbed her arm and made a run for it before the curious crowd turned into an angry mob.

"Natsume-sama! Wait!!!!!!!!" Someone from the crowd shouted.

"Move it, you idiot!" Natsume said, tugging a bewildered Mikan away from the newly formed mob that was determined to trample the person who assaulted him and maybe get an autograph or two from him.

He made a turn in a nearby alley and kept on going, making sure that no one caught sight of them.

"W-What just happened there?" Mikan asked between pants. She was kneeling on the ground, tired from running.

Natsume knelt in front of her and lifted her head. Their eyes met. "Are you okay?" He asked, in what seemed to be concern.

"Y-Yeah..." Mikan answered, that weird feeling creeping back to her.

"Good." And then he knocked her head, making that the third assault he made to her that day. Yes, Mikan was counting.

"YOU!! THAT'S THE REASON WHY WE'RE IN THIS SITUATION! SHEESH! HITTING ME FOR NO GOOD REASON!" She yelled at him and then she was starting to mumble about how many of her brain cells died that day.

"Sorry." Mikan looked up at him. "What?"

"Oi... Are you continuously growing deaf, woman?" Natsume asked her, a bit calmly now. "I said I'm sorry." He repeated, handing her a handkerchief for her to wipe her nose.

Mikan looked at him and reached out to poke him. "Are you really the _real_ Natsume?" She asked him, unsure. "You're really asking for it, aren't you," He said, with an evil look, making Mikan say that she was joking.

"I'm sorry too... For hitting you... and revealing your identity." She said as she wiped her nose.

She sighed, "Some date, huh?"

"Hn."

Natsume stood up, putting his cap back on. He peeped out to the streets to check if any of those rabid fan girls were still on the hunt.

"Guess we lost 'em."

"Then I guess I'll be on my way home now." Mikan said almost too cheerfully and trying to make a quick escape before Natsume pulled her ponytail and tugged her back.

"Idiot. You're not getting off the hook that easily."

"... Then what do you propose we do, Natsume-baka?"

And much to Mikan's dismay, Natsume smirked at her.

-----------------------------

"No way!! Why do I have to dress up like this?" Mikan bawled out as they made their way out of the shop. She was clad in a large brown overcoat, loose pants, and a fisherman's hat that matched her overcoat perfectly well. Her long hair was stuffed inside her hat, making her look like a street salesman ready to pounce at every potential customer that would pass by.

"Stop complaining. I paid for it, didn't I?" Natsume answered her dully, trying very hard not to laugh. He too bought a new jacket and sunglasses for himself.

"That's not what I meant!" She fumed at him. "Why do I have to look like this while you get to keep the '_backstreet boys' _image?!"

Natsume stared at her before answering, "Because it looks funny", making Mikan bawl out more colourful words at him, "Don't say that with such a straight face, you fox!"

The two walked on without being caught by any of his hounding fans, though there were still some curious gazes that crossed him, and when he would accidentally meet with one of those girls' eyes, they would start giggling profusely.

At that moment, an idea popped into Natsume's head.

He looked at the miserable looking brunette and placed his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to him and surprising her.

"W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?? DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS LOOKS LIKE, YOU PERVERT?!" Mikan ranted, her face was as red as a tomato. She was quite aware of how the passing people were staring at them, and she wasn't really used to people staring... with THAT kind of thought crossing their minds.

"Who cares what it looks like? A date's a date, isn't it, Polka-dotted panties?"

"Idiot! People will think we're both ga—" She stopped dead. Something clicked in her mind, and the level of anger she had for Natsume reached its peak level. She gasped.

"Y-Y-YOUU SAAAWWWW!!! YOU PERVERT!! HOW DID--" She yelled, balling her fist at him.

Then it all came back to her, when she had punched him on the face, he fell down... and she was... wearing a skirt...

"GYAAAH!! UNFORGIVABLE!!" Mikan seethed, ready to kill him.

Natsume ignored her, "Ah... We're here already." He said, pointing at the shop in front of him, Mikan calmed down, when she saw the name of the store.

"HOWALON PARADISE."

At that moment, thoughts of disassembling Natsume started to slowly fade away, and the pleasant thought of the sweet candy replaced it.

"Aaaahhhh...... Sweet howalon..." She said, one arm extending to the shop's door and sparkles surrounding her.

The bell rang as they entered the humble shop. Inside, the sweet scent of howalon hung in the air, a variety of howalon was sold there, some of them, manufactured in different shapes, some were wrapped and some were on sticks. The sight made the brunette drool.

"Welcome! Feel free to delights yourselves with the pleasant taste of our howalon!" The shop keeper said cheerfully. Mikan smiled at him as she helped herself with the howalon.

"Ahh... which one should I buy? Which one? I know! This one! No! This one! NO! THIS ONE!!" She mumbled to herself, going back and forth, going from stall to stall, unable to pick one.

"I'll take this please!" She finally said to the shopkeeper. The man smiled at her as he punched in the price.

"That will be XXXXX yen, little missy."

Mikan opened her bag and she searched for her wallet... And searched for it... And searched for it...

Sweat drop.

At that moment, she suddenly felt her whole world shatter into tiny little pieces, and her soul leaving for the next world.

"OH NO!!! I MUST'VE DROPPED MY WALLET WHILE WE WERE RUNNING AWAY!"

"What an idiot, dropping important things like that." Natsume commented, catching the brunette's attention.

"Hey! Whose fault do you think was it that I dropped it in the first place??"

"So, you don't have any money?" The shopkeeper asked her, his eyes glinting.

"Ummm... I'm sorry... I'll take it back." She apologized, bowing as she did so.

The man looked at her, and waved his hand at her, telling her to come closer. "Then why don't you get your boyfriend to buy it for you." He whispered, one hand covering the side of his mouth, and making Mikan turn to stone at the words.

"A-ah... No, you're mistaken mister, you see we're just—" Mikan started calmly before being interrupted by her raven haired companion.

"You're still denying that fact? I'll buy that howlaon if you want it that much."

Mikan turned her head to him and said, "No thank you! I'll buy it with my own money when I come back!" At that, she took the box back to the stall.

She looked at the howalon sadly. "Our time together was so short, sweet howalon." She said dramatically before striding off to Natsume. "Where next?"

"You go on outside. I need to talk to the shop keeper."

Mikan looked at him strangely and nodded and walked out of the store to wait for him there.

She sighed,_ 'And I was thinking of sharing some for mom, Hotaru, Iinchou, Anna-chan, Nonoko-chan, and Ruka too!' _She said, feeling disappointed. She heard the shop's bell ring, and out came Natsume. He stared at her in what seemed like surprise. Mikan gave him a quizzical look, "What?"

"You... didn't run away when I wasn't watching."

Mikan folded her arms together. "Well I was tempted to, but I'd feel guilt if I did. Especially after what happened with those crazy fan girls."

Natsume stared at her before closing his eyes and smirking. "Hmph. What a naive idiot." Mikan glared at him, "Well if you want me to run away, I'll do it right now!" She threatened, and then he held out a red box to her. She hesitantly accepted it and opened it, her eyes grew huge.

"W-What's this?? Didn't I say that I'd buy it on my own?" Mikan exclaimed, pushing it back to him. And then Natsume slapped her lightly on the forehead.

"Just take it, Polka-dots." He smugly said, going on without her.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!?!"

"Ah! Take good care of your girlfriend, young man!" The shop keeper said to them. Natsume waved a hand at him, while Mikan cried, "I'm NOT his girlfriend!" to him. The shop keeper laughed.

"Aahhh... Young love."

* * *

**Park**

They were seated on a bench were a large tree stood, its leaves slowly fell down from its branches and on to the ground. There was silence between the couple from the moment they decided (Natsume decided) to stay there. Mikan looked at the box of howalon on her lap and felt her stomach grumble. There were about ten pieces inside the box. _'That means there's just enough for everybody!'_

After what seemed to be an hour of arguing, she finally decided to swallow her pride and accepted his gift to her_._

But not before Natsume threatened that he would tell the media that he met a clumsy girl who shows off her polka-dotted panties in public.

'_Bloody bastard.'_ She thought as she took a piece of the candy and popped it in her mouth.

"Delicious!" She cried out.

"Do you really have to announce to the whole world how delicious that is?" She turned to her date and glared, "Of course I have too! So that the person who made them will know how much I enjoy the howalon!" Natsume smirked.

"What a simple-minded kid."

"What was that, nasty fox?!"

"I said you're an idiot who wears childish underwear."

"Take that back, you pervert!"

"(3) The pot's calling the white-coloured kettle black."

"That's not even the right phrase, idiot!!"

"Stupid klutz."

"Insensitive bastard!!"

After a series of insults, snide comebacks and shrewd punch lines, Mikan didn't feel as awkward as she did before when she was with him. In fact, she felt quite comfortable with him now. She suddenly laughed, surprising Natsume.

"What's so funny?"

Mikan wiped a tear from her eye, "It's because we're talking like this." She said, her laughter subsiding. "You know, I thought that today would be the worst day of my life, having to spend it with the worst person on Earth... But it wasn't." She said, suddenly feeling nostalgic. She wondered what would've happened if they didn't argue that day, five years ago. She wouldn't have had that accident... but then she couldn't get to meet _him_ if she didn't...

'_Wait...'_

""_You know, Moku? When I get my eyesight back, I wanna try all sorts of things! I might start watching horror movies for a change, and start collecting that 'xxxx' manga that Anna-chan's been talking about! I also heard that "Howl's Moving Castle is also pretty good. And I can't wait to try out that new candy that everyone's been talking about lately... I think that was howalon ""_

'_It just might be a coincidence... but still... the horror movie... "Howl's Moving Castle", the howalon! No way... this guy... could he be...'_ She thought, staring at Natsume. She could practically drive holes through concrete, the way she stared at him.

"No way..." She muttered.

Natsume looked at her quizzically, "What?"

"Ahh... nothing!" She said, dismissing the idea. _'There's no way that this person could be Moku. Moku is kind and gentle. This guy is a mean pervert! Plus, Moku can't speak! It must really be a coincidence...' _

She handed him a piece of howalon, "Here! Consider this as a peace offering." She said, a smile on her face. He stared at her before taking the candy.

"Thanks."

Once again, there was silence.

Natsume was the first to break it, "On the fourteenth of February..." Mikan looked at him.

"I have something important to tell you."

Mikan just stared at him, wondering what was it that he wanted to tell her. She thought about coaxing it from him, but then decided that she didn't want to hear it at that moment. _'Ah... come to think of it... that's already next week.'_

'_Well it can't be that he's gonna profess undying love for me! Hahaha! Come on! He's just doing this to torture me, right??'_ She thought, laughing at herself for even thinking it.

"Let's go." Natsume said, standing up. Mikan nodded, and they walked side by side to the train station, the date concluded, and their feud ended.

"Well... I guess I have to say this, but thank you for today." Mikan said, almost hesitantly, holding out a hand for him to shake.

Natsume looked at it before taking it. And just when Mikan thought that the handshake was a sign of them making peace, he pulled her to him and he lightly pressed his lips on hers. Her eyes widened in shock at the sudden movement.

The train was coming, the busy people passed by, time continuously flowed for them .

But for these two people, time suddenly stood still.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

1. Aka-chan- Japanese for baby.

2. Kappa- a type of water sprite found in Japanese folklore. (I have no idea why I made Mikan say this... it just sounds funny I guess.)

3. The pot's calling the white-coloured kettle black- Actually, the correct phrase is "The pot's calling the kettle black." I changed it since they are having a comeback battle, and making Natsume say the original phrase is like making him admit that he IS a pervert (Which he really is. Heh.) Plus, I thought that it would be something that Natsume would say. Hah.

WOOOHHOOOO!!!! IT'S FINISHED!! Somehow, the peak point of my writing abilities fires up at the wee hours of the morning. (O_O)

And finally! Their first kiss! I tried to make the date romantic and comical at the same time. Ahh... I did my best... Ahh.... It's so sad to be so inexperienced about such things as these... (Tears).

But what did you think? Was it too over the comical, slapstick, hit-you-hit-me, side? Did it make sense? (Confused)

Well, anyway, just leave me your thoughts by reviewing. I'd also like some of your suggestions for next chapter! And some constructive criticisms!

Well, I won't promise an early update. Since June is another start of an interesting life (Cough-school-cough). But I have no intentions of abandoning this fanfic of mine. (They're like children to me XD)

Anyway!

'Til next chapter!!

JA NE!!!

BlakRythem, over and out!


	6. Revelations and Pigheadedness

**Disclaimer:** Gakuen Alice is owned by none other than _the_ pig herself, Higuchi Tachibana. Fat chance on me owning it. This fa fiction is loosely based on a short manga also made by Higuchi Tachibana which I strongly recommend you read... NOW. It's called "A Girl in a Bird Cage."

**Summary:**When the cold-hearted teen idol Hyuuga Natsume asks you out, you aren't supposed to say no. Sakura Mikan did. And she ended up being his girlfriend... Forcibly, of course.

**Author's Note:** I'm sorry for the very late update. What contributed more with the delay was the painful writer's block I had. (Ahhh... perhaps I should stick to oneshots? They've been coming in like crazy.) And thank you very much for the reviews and bearing with me. Even when I didn't update for a long time… makes me realize what an **evil** author I've been. (sniffles). Also, I'd like to thank the people who pointed out the mistakes I made in the previous chapters. They are much appreciated and will be corrected soon enough. Anyway, hugs to you all.

By the way, I never really intended a certain green haired permy to act bitchy in this chapter. It's just really easy to write her that way and making her change in the end just like how she is in the real story. :D

As always, I apologize for any grammatical errors.

**WARNING:** **ANGST** MAY ENSUE. **AAAAAAAANGST**. And much less of the comedy (The humor's a bit stale here.)... please enjoy it anyway.

* * *

**Love Knots**

By

**BlakRythem**

_"Mommy..." The small child tugged at her mother's skirt, her eyes were filled with childish curiosity. The young mother smiled at her four-year old daughter as she patted her head. "What is it Mikan?"_

_"What's a kiss?" Her mother's eyes widened and then smiled mischievously at the girl before picking her up, "This is a kiss, Mikan." She said before smothering the little girl's face with light kisses while tickling her in the process._

_"Haha! Not... that kind of kiss mommy!" Mikan said between giggles, pushing away from her mother and wiping her cheeks. Her mother looked at her quizzically, "What do you mean, Mikan?" she asked as she set her down on the floor._

_"I meant when Hotaru's papa's lips touches her mama's lips! Hotaru's mama said it was a kiss but it don't look like the kiss you always gimme, mommy." Mikan explained, her index finger touching her own lips. Her mother froze. She knew that someday her daughter would be asking these types of questions, but she never thought that she would ask this now. _

_She knelt down so that she could be at eye level with her daughter and put a hand on her shoulder. "Remember when mommy bought you that 'Snow White' movie?" _

_Mikan nodded enthusiastically, obviously fond of the fairytale. "Yup! The prince put his lips on Snowy's to wake her up..." She said and then stopped to think about what she said. "So that was a kiss too?" Her mother smiled at her daughter's cuteness and nodded._

_"But Hotaru's mama didn't need waking up mommy! Hotaru's papa kissed her while she was awake!" Mikan said, a small pout forming on her lips. She was obviously frustrated that her mother wasn't answering her question directly. Mrs. Sakura sighed at her daughter. Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to compare fairytale kisses with real life ones._

_She smiled at the child and started to explain, "Well did you see how happy the prince was when Snow White woke up from the kiss?" Mikan nodded happily, "Then they rode on the big white horsey!"_

_"Well," Mrs. Sakura started as she thought of a good way to explain what this 'kiss' was to her too young daughter. "The prince gave that kiss to Snow White because he wanted to show her how much he loved her." She looked at her daughter whose eyes were filled with wonder. "So that's why Hotaru's papa kissed Hotaru's mama. It's because he loved her very much." She added, hoping that Mikan got the analogy._

_"Ah!" Mikan squealed in realization. "So Hotaru's papa is like the prince and Hotaru's mama is like Snowy! Hotaru's papa's a prince!" She said in excitement. _

_Mrs. Sakura chuckled, "Well something like that. Everyone has their own prince, and someday you will too." She said earning a wide smile of excitement from the child. She got up and patted her daughter's head before heading off to the kitchen to cook dinner, "Well now you know what a kiss is. And what its difference is with the kiss I give you."_

_Mikan nodded, "The kiss on here" she pointed to her cheeks. "Is the kiss mommy gives me everyday! And the kiss here..." This time she pointed to her lips. "Is for a prince!" She said, clapping her hands together. Her mother chuckled and ruffled her daughter's hair, "That's right. And you're not allowed to give out that kind of kiss to just anyone. It has to be your own special prince." _

_Mikan beamed at her and nodded in agreement, "That kiss will only be for my prince!"_

**

* * *

Chapter 5: Revelations and Pigheadedness**

Four years ago, she had dreamt of being kissed like this by him, a kiss from her supposedly prince charming of her preadolescent fantasies.

Four years ago, she would have welcomed the feeling of his arm pulling her against him.

Four years ago, she was foolishly in love… no, infatuated with someone she didn't know firsthand.

These were her thoughts when he pulled away from her and walked into the waiting train. No further words were spoken between them and only the feeling of time slowly moving forward. She stood there baffled, shock evident in her wide eyes and the growing blush on her face.

Four years ago, Sakura Mikan would have cried tears of joy if her long-time crush ever kissed her like that. It reminded her of the many shojo mangas she secretly reads in Jinno-sensei's class.

But four years was a long time ago, and she was a foolish, love-struck preteen then. Now, her reaction would be…

_o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o_

**_ "THAT DAMNED BASTARD!" _**

Mikan shrieked, making everyone in the classroom stare at her strangely when she made her sudden outburst. It was homeroom period and the teacher had left them on their own after a brief announcement. Mikan had her face flat on her desk and her fist banging on it continuously. Nonoko had just asked her how her date went and well…

"Mikan-chan! What's the matter? Did Hyuuga-san do something to you?" Anna asked, concerned with how her friend was acting.

Mikan buried her head further in her arms as the memory of the kiss flashed right before her eyes. She snapped upright, a deep blush was painted on her cheeks. "N-Nothing! N-Nothing interesting h-happened at all!" She stuttered, yelling as she said it.

The two girls looked at each other, and then gave her a sly grin. "Something interesting DID happen, right Mikan-chan?" they both said, an evil glint in their eyes.

Mikan began to sweat and hurriedly shook her head, "N-no! I already told you that nothing happened!" She said in the most unconvincing tone. _'Darn it! I was never good at lying.'_

"Liar. Something did happen. It's written all over your face. Don't try acting otherwise you idiot, you know that you're bad at it" her best friend, who was seated right next to her bluntly said, her eyes glued on the book she was reading.

Mikan pouted at her "Ho-Hotaru! Which side are you on anyway?"

Hotaru glanced at her before turning the next page of her book. "I'm on the side that gets me money." She said making Mikan hit her face on her desk again.

Nonoko put her hands on her hips. "Mikan, if you don't lay it on us now then we'll find a way to make Hyuuga-san tell us." She threatened. Mikan looked up at her, "Nonoko-chan wouldn't do that. That's too out of character for you." She confidently said. Nonoko huffed at her, knowing she was right.

Everyone looked up when the door of the classroom opened, revealing the two teen idols.

"Good morning." Ruka greeted as he made his way to his seat followed by Natsume who said nothing as he made his way to his. The girls started to go up to them, but not as rabidly as they did the last week.

Mikan tensed when she felt his gaze on her and she started to pretend to read her notebook. She glanced up at Nonoko and was shocked to see a grin on her face as she went towards Natsume.

"N-Nonoko!" She bolted up from her seat and she walked towards her.

"Hyuuga-san."

Natsume looked up to see his blue-haired classmate smiling at him. "What is it?"

"Well I—GWWAAH!" She halted when Mikan threw herself on her back and her arms were on her neck, unintentionally choking her. "Nonokoooo!! No! I swear nothing interesting happened last Saturday!" Mikan cried out as she pulled her away.

_'Nothing interesting, huh?'_ Natsume thought and propped his head with his knuckle. "I never thought that what you did last Saturday would deem to you as uninteresting, _slave_."

Mikan stopped choking Nonoko as Natsume's comment processed in her head. Then, something inside her snapped.

"WHY YOU DIRTY FOX!! I NEVER INITIATED THAT KISS AND YOU KNOW IT!!" she blurted out, making the room silent, all eyes turned to her in surprise. Even Hotaru, who always kept her cool in the most embarrassing situations, was baffled at Mikan's sudden outburst.

"Mikan…"

"Wh-What did you just say?!" One of the girls yelled and harshly pushed the brunette back, making her fall on her behind. She glared up at her but then Sumire pulled her collar and forced her to stand up again.

"H-Hey now!" Yuu stuttered as he stood up to help Mikan.

"Be quiet, Iinchou!" The girl who pushed Mikan snapped.

"Why you sneaky little--! We let you off easy last week and you have the guts to do something as shoddy as _kissing_ Natsume-sama? We the Natsume and Ruka Fan Club will not allow such an atrocity!" She raised her hand to slap her but stopped when Natsume stood up and put his arms around Mikan.

"Touch my _girlfriend_ again, and I'll make sure that it's going to be the last club you'll ever make." He said, the death glare he gave her making her whimper in fear.

"What's all this commotion?!" Mrs. Kuroda yelled at them her eyes were on the three students who were currently the centre attention. Sumire still had her hand up in the air and Natsume was still holding a bewildered Mikan.

"Shouda, Sakura, and Hyuuga. Out of the classroom. Now." She growled in an authoritative tone. The three did what they were told and marched out of the now silent room, passing the angry teacher. Mrs. Kuroda snapped her head back to her students. "The rest of you, get back to your seats and wait for me here. Quietly." She ordered and closed the door.

"What's up with her?" Kitsuneme murmured to Koko, earning a shrug.

"Must be that time of the month again."

* * *

Kuroda crossed her arms on her chest and eyed the three teenagers. The two girls were looking down at their feet while Natsume casually stuck his hands in his pockets.

"I'm going to ask calmly and directly. What happened, and who was responsible?"

They were silent for a moment. Mikan was trying to compose an explanation in her head. She was about to say something when Natsume started.

"It was my fault, sensei. I said something inappropriate that made Shouda do what she did to Sakura."

The two girls looked at him in surprise. "N-No! It was my fault, sensei! I overreacted at what Sakura said and tried to slap her! It wasn't Natsume-sama's fault at all!" Sumire said, trying to save Natsume from the impending punishment that was to be brought upon him.

"Enough." Mrs. Kuroda ordered and looked at the three of them, wondering what to do, "Well I must say, I'm quite disappointed. Not only in Hyuuga-san, but also in the two of you. I expected better behavior from you two." She said and sighed, "None of you will go home early this afternoon. The three of you will clean the classroom until it shines. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

The day passed by so swiftly that Mikan was surprised to hear the school bell ring, indicating that classes were already over. Nonoko had apologized to her a thousand times that day but she just smiled and said that it wasn't her fault.

Anna huffed, "Mikan-chan never told us that she already got it on with Hyuuga-san."

"Well I'm sure Mikan-chan had her reasons." Yuu said.

"That's right. What a cruel thing to do, not telling her friends such important details. I guess this ends our friendship then." Hotaru said, slipping her bag on her shoulder.

Mikan sobbed, "Hotaruuuuu!!!!!! No! There definitely isn't anything going on between me and that lecherous fox!" She said, trying to hug her best friend.

"Don't touch me you germ-filled ex-friend of mine." Hotaru said, causing Mikan to cry. The three other friends laughed, knowing that Hotaru was only teasing Mikan.

"Well we better get going." Nonoko said, "Bye bye, Mikan-chan." They both waved goodbye to the brunette.

"Hotaru? Were you serious about our friendship ending?" Mikan asked with uncertainty. It was often hard to read the violet-eyed enigma what with the poker face she always put on. Hotaru looked at her.

"If I were to say no, will you glomp at me again?" Mikan grinned at her and hugged her. Hotaru pushed her back. "Easily pleased, as usual." She smiled at her briefly.

"I'm going. Be sure to clean my desk spotless." Mikan laughed at her comment and waved goodbye to her. She watched as her classmates left the classroom, leaving her with Permy and… the devil.

Sumire sighed, "God! I'm not supposed to be here! I'm supposed to be somewhere in Shibuya buying that brand new Chanel bag I've been saving up for!" Sumire complained, and eyed Mikan. "Thanks a lot, Sakura."

Mikan glared at her as she started pushing back the tables, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Sumire folded her arms across her chest. "It means what it's supposed to mean." Mikan was about to snap back at her before Natsume interrupted them.

"That's enough. I have things to do and I want this to be over and done with and your stupid arguments aren't helping." He said.

Mikan glowered at him _'Like it isn't your fault that we're arguing in the first place.' _She walked out of the classroom. "I'm getting the water." She said, still annoyed by Natsume. The whole day she either ignored him or yelled at him when he talked to her. She avoided the brief glances he would give her and fought the urge to jump at the one time when his skin accidentally brushed on hers. No one has ever angered her as much as he has, and she was usually a very patient girl.

Sumire looked over at the teen idol. They were alone. Sparkles started to surround her at this fact. "Then we should go and gather the equipment, Natsume-sama."

Natsume grunted, "I think I'll go help her." He said and left the classroom, leaving Sumire all by herself.

"Mou! You expect me to carry all the cleaning equipment from the janitor's closet all the way _here?"_

* * *

Hotaru walked out of the school building with Mikan in mind. She knew that the silly girl could handle herself, but when it comes to emotional matters, her tendency was to automatically burst out crying. She knew for a fact that Mikan felt strongly about the kiss. It was written all over her face. Whether they'd be negative or positive feelings… or both was a question.

She stopped when she noticed Ruka sitting on a bench near the building. He looked as if he were contemplating something.

"Nogi-san." Ruka looked up to see Hotaru looking down at him. He frowned, "You aren't here to take pictures of me again, are you?"

"I left my camera today and quite frankly, I'm not in the mood."

"Oh."

"Waiting for Hyuuga-san?"

Ruka nodded, "Yeah, and I don't suppose you're waiting for Sakura, are you?"

"That idiot can walk home by herself. I'm not her keeper." She said as she waved his hand at him, telling him to scoot over so she could sit.

"Well… I've been meaning to ask. About Hyuuga-san. Can you tell me why he's so interested in Mikan?"

Ruka looked at her a moment before smiling.

* * *

**Girl's bathroom.**

Mikan put the bucket underneath the mouth of the faucet and let the water run in it. As she waited for it to be filled, unwanted thoughts started to creep up in her.

She absentmindedly brushed her lips with her fingers lightly as last Saturday's memories lurked within her mind. She could still feel his lips lingering on hers when he suddenly pulled her in for an unexpected kiss. It all happened so fast that she still couldn't believe that he did that. She didn't want to admit it, but when their lips touched, the weird tingling feeling that had been plaguing her stomach that day made its way to her chest, paralyzing her--- Wait a minute...

She slammed her fist on the wall, _'Don't tell me that I actually liked it! Damned bastard toying with my emotions!' _she mused and buried her face in her hands and started to formulate dozens of reasons why he would kiss her like that when she had just made a truce with him, and a friendly one at that. She growled lowly when she remembered him calling her his girlfriend.

She felt something dampen her white shoes and jumped when the bucket was already overflowing with water. "Gyaaah!! I spaced out!" She said as she hurriedly turned the faucet off. "Darn. Now I need to mop this up too?" She sighed. "This is just not my day." She muttered.

She picked up the bucket's handle and exerted her full effort to get it up from the ground. She smiled triumphantly when she finally lifted it up and she slowly got it out from the girl's bathroom, spilling small amounts of water in the process.

She stopped out in the hall, needing to rest her arms for a bit. When she was about to pick the bucket up again, someone had already picked it up with much more ease. She looked up, wanting to thank the person but frowned.

"I can carry it by myself." She roughly said. She knew she was just being stubborn and she didn't want to seem like she depended on him.

Natsume looked at her like she was crazy. "There is no way you can carry this on your own without falling over. Stop being so pigheaded."

Mikan huffed, "I'm not being pigheaded! And there's no way I'd fall over. I've carried things as heavy before." She said as she grabbed the side of the handle Natsume wasn't touching. She didn't feel at ease with him touching her after what happened on their date.

"Sakura Mikan, you are the most pigheaded and stubborn woman I've ever met. I don't recall you acting this way on our outing." He said as he tugged the bucket back.

Mikan growled at being reminded of the accursed date, "And whose fault do you think is that?! Who do you think you are?! Did you actually think that I wanted that kiss you gave me? Did you think that I'd crawl back to you after how you treated me when I was twelve?! I hate you Hyuuga Natsume!" At that, she gave one last powerful tug.

Natsume was caught off guard with her speech that his grip on the handle loosened, causing the girl who had tugged at it with all her might to fall back, spilling the bucket's contents all over her.

Mikan found herself on the floor, soaked to the bone, the bucket on her lap, and her butt sore from hitting the hard concrete. She looked up at him, dazed.

"Are you okay?" Natsume asked, a hint of worry in his voice, as he grabbed her wrist to help her up.

"Don't touch me!" She said in a low voice when his skin came into contact with hers. His touch left her with a burning sensation, seemingly embedding it on her wrist even when he let her go. The feeling felt so familiar… but where did she feel it before? She turned her head away from him, feeling so confused with how she was feeling.

Natsume's eyes narrowed. "I see. You hate me that much?" He straightened himself up and took the bucket from her. "I won't bother you anymore Sakura." He said as he left her there and went to refill the bucket with the water they oh so needed.

Mikan sat there and stared at his retreating back. She cupped her face, feeling the heat emitting from it despite the wetness of it.

She stood up and wiped her face dry with her handkerchief. "I really am a stupid pighead, aren't I?" She said, fighting the urge not to cry.

The rest of the afternoon passed in silence. Sumire could feel the awkward tension between the two as they started to arrange the desks in their proper places after the cleaning (Mikan of course had a change of clothing). The tension was so thick that she thought she could cut it with a knife. She looked at the usually perky brunette who had an almost unreadable expression on her face. She then looked at her idol and saw that he wore his trademark poker face, but then realized that his eyes looked a bit more troubled than usual.

"Ah..." Sumire started, trying to break the tension, but then Natsume interrupted.

"I'm done. I'm heading off now." He said as he grabbed his bag from his desk. "Shouda." He simply said. Sumire swore that she almost melted at the way he said her surname. She never thought she heard it ever said right. "See you tomorrow, Natsume-sama."

"Sakura." He said, this time a bit lowly. Mikan didn't turn to face him but nodded, _"See you tomorrow."_ She forced herself to say, but found that she couldn't. She turned around and found that he wasn't there anymore. Her eyelids lowered as she grabbed her bag and a plastic bag that contained her wet uniform. "I'm going home now too. See you tomorrow, Sumire."

Sumire looked at her strangely. Mikan always called her "Permy" ever since their elementary days, "Y-yeah. See you."Sumire stared at her, not dense to not notice the way the two acted towards each other. She really needed to ask Mikan about it.

* * *

"I see… so that's how it is." Hotaru said a serious look plastered on her face.

Ruka nodded, "Things are a bit complicated. It was Natsume himself who tracked her down here and requested that we attend here for two weeks."

"I think him doing so was a bit arrogant and reckless of him. And you accompanying him isn't helping much." Hotaru bluntly said.

"There's no offense in that, is there?" Ruka said, a bit bothered by what she said.

"No. I meant all the offense in there. But, even if you are somewhat useless, I can benefit from you with these priceless photos."

Ruka glared at her, "You know, most of my fans usually ask for my autograph after taking a photo of me instead of selling them."

"Too bad I'm not one of your fans." Hotaru said, standing up. "So, we've agreed about the plan then?"

He nodded. "This Friday. It was declared a holiday anyway." Hotaru nodded, "Well it was nice talking with you, Nogi-san." She said as she started to walk away.

"You won't tell Sakura about the things I said, will you?" Hotaru stopped in her tracks and turned to him. "That's something she needs to hear from him." And with that, she left.

Ruka smiled, "Sakura-san really is surrounded with a good group of friends. His face then turned serious.

"Natsume… you'd better get your act together. We don't have much time left here."

**

* * *

**

**Author's Note:** It's... It's finally... done! Aah... this was shorter than expected... (emo)

Dear reader, I would like to officially apologize for the horrible cliché that this chapter contained. As a set up chapter, it was called for. Plus, I think I read too many mushy fan fictions and listened to too many Nickel back songs that may have influenced my writing. Ehh... Why is it that the only time I get inspired to write a chapter is at the middle of the night?

I will openly admit it: I am odd. Anyway... I'm not sure about how I feel about this chapter... I'm not used to writing so much AAAAAAANGST, but I think it turned out quite the way I imagined it.

I'm still looking for your opinion on this chapter. So please leave reviews... I'd like to know what you thought about it. Was it too angsty? Were they too out of character? (Personally, I felt like Mikan was a bit OOC in some parts. But then again, this is in an alternate universe XD)

It's almost Christmas... and I'm actually currently in the spirit of giving so... (coughs).

Anyway, Happy Holidays to you all!


	7. Looking Out For Me

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Gakuen Alice, its story, or its characters. I also don't own the short story that this fic was loosely based on. But I do own my own twists and OCs.

**Summary:** When the cold-hearted teen idol Hyuuga Natsume asks you out, you aren't supposed to say no. Sakura Mikan did. And she ended up being his girlfriend... Forcibly, of course.

**Author's Note:** Finally got chapter 6 up! I again deeply apologize for not updating sooner. I had some trouble opening the chapter and how to pace it and this would've gone up sooner if the computer didn't bust up on me, consequently erasing every file I had on my hard drive. (I have a fiction about that that's coming up soon.) Anyway, thanks again for your kind reviews! They always help me whenever I'm in a cloud of doom and gloom. :)

As per usual, I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors.

ONWARDS!

* * *

**Love Knots**

By

**BlakRythem**

**Chapter 6: Looking Out For Me**

"I'm home!"

Mrs. Sakura turned around from the vegetables she was chopping when she heard the front door of their house open and her daughter shout out.

"Mikan-chan! Welcome home!" She greeted back, expecting her daughter to come in to the kitchen to give her a warm hug and help her with the cooking like she usually did. Instead, she heard the padding feet of her daughter climbing the stairs, followed by a door shutting close.

She set her knife down and went out of the kitchen, opting to see what was wrong with her daughter. She stopped in her tracks when she saw a paper bag sprawled on the floor. She sighed, "That girl knows better than to leave her things lying around like this." She picked it up and opened it to find Mikan's wet uniform. This was already the second time around that her daughter had returned from school with a bag of wet clothing. She frowned at the thought. Was someone bullying her daughter?"

"Mikan... what's wrong? Is there something you're not telling me?"

* * *

_She felt the tears run down her cheeks, and a soft sob soon escaped her mouth. She'd never felt so alone before. Whenever she tried to open her eyes, the only thing that she could see was pure darkness... And that scared her. Never before had she felt so frightened of the dark, the anxiety that it carried with it. She reached out for something, anything, just to know that she wasn't alone in that quiet hospital room._

_'Please don't leave me alone... Mommy... Hotaru... Daddy...'_

_She breathed, clutching the blanket underneath her palm; the tears flowing from her eyes, dampening the bandages that were covering them. _

_"Anyone.." She called out. Yet no answer was given. Only the silence of the room she lied in, broken only by her occasional sobs._

_And then she felt her hand being enveloped with warmth, effectively stopping her cries. She clutched at the hand that was holding hers into a tight grip, and soon felt a thumb stroking her hand, as if saying that everything was alright._

_She slowly rose up from her position and turned to face what she thought might be where the owner of the hand was. "You're here." She whispered, more to herself than her unknown companion._

_She felt the hand release hers and went up to the side of her head, where the bandages for her eyes were locked, and silently, the stranger began unrolling the bandage. She instantly reached up to stop his hand but halted when she heard him say in a soft voice:_

"_It's okay. It won't hurt you."_

_Hearing the voice soothed her, as if she had heard it once before when she was a child. She let him take off the last of the cloth that was covering her still closed eyes._

"_Open your eyes." The voice said._

_She hesitantly did so, afraid that if she did, it would cause more damage to her eyes, resulting to a prolonged stay in the hospital._

_She felt the hand grab hers again. "It's okay, trust me."_

_She nodded, and slowly opened her eyes. Everything around her was a blurry white, except for a dark figure in front of her. She reached up to touch what seemed to be the figures face until..._

"Mikan!"

Mikan fell down on the bed, her blanket wrapped around her face. She groaned and moved it out of her face and rubbed her sour butt, then her aching head.

"What is it?" She asked in a tired voice.

The person in front of her sighed, "Are you still asleep? Get up. You've missed first and second period already, you moron."

Mikan looked up to focus her eyes on the person in front of her. When they finally did, her eyes widened.

"Hotaru! What are you doing here?" She exclaimed. She looked around to check her watch, and felt her eye balls bulge out.

"Waaah!! It's 10:30?! Why didn't mom wake me up?"

"She was waking you up, log head. She said that you were sleeping like a rock and gave up."

Hotaru sighed and made her way out of her room. "Get dressed. You have no excuse as to be absent today. You are a perfectly healthy girl after all." She said and shut her bedroom door close.

Mikan chuckled, "Hotaru is always looking out for me, isn't she?" She said to herself as she got ready for school.

* * *

The day passed by normally... that is... as normal as it could get for Mikan. Yet there was something that seemed to have lacked that day.

"Ruka-sama, is Natsume-sama absent today?" One of the girls asked during class.

Ruka nodded gently, "Yes. He was feeling a bit under the weather so he decided to rest today. I'm sure he'll be back soon."

"Gosh, I hope he's all right. I read once that Natsume-sama rarely gets sick and is always up and about!"

"Well apparently you've read wrong! Natsume-sama's like any other human being and thus is not immune to certain kinds of sickness." Her seatmate said, turning her nose up at her haughtily.

Sumire overheard the whole conversation and turned to look at Mikan who was, although smiling at what Anna was telling her, more mellow than she usually was. Not to mention the fact that Mikan was abnormally late today... Okay, so she was always late coming for school, but this time she was border line abnormally late. She frowned, "What the heck is happening anyway? Was Natsume-sama really serious about yesterday?" She thought, remembering the events that occurred the day before. The way the two acted yesterday, and the way things were now...

Sumire came down to her final assessment:

"Everything is so all out wrong!" She blurted out.

"What's wrong, Shouda-san?" Ruka asked her.

"Oh great, did I say that out loud?"

"Yeah you did, Permy. And really loud too."

Sumire started to pull at her hair in frustration. "God! Now she's got me doing it too!" She said, referring to Mikan and her signature outbursts. Really, was an afternoon spent with someone all it took to influence you in doing their quirks?

'I have to find out what's going on between those two!'

* * *

"Nyuto Onsen(1)?" Anna questioned her food halfway to her mouth. The five were huddled in a circle at their usual spot on the school grounds for lunch when Hotaru suddenly made an announcement.

Hotaru nodded, "Yeah... My grandfather is staying there for the weekend, and he was wondering whether or not we'd like to stay there as well. At his expenses of course." She said, fishing out some of her lunch from her bento.

"Wait... it's all for free?" Yuu asked.

"Well if you want, I can ask them to charge you, Iinchou."

"Aah... no, that's all right. A stay at an onsen(2) for free sounds good!" Yuu said, laughing nervously.

Nonoko turned around to face Mikan, an excited glint in her eyes. "Did you hear that, Mikan? A whole weekend at Nyuto Onsen! I can hardly believe it!" She exclaimed, grabbing her hands in excitement.

Mikan smiled back at her, "Yeah! Hotaru's grandpa sure is an amazing guy!" She said in what Hotaru recognized as forced enthusiasm. She was friends with Mikan longer than anyone else in the group, and it was easy to see that something was bothering the girl.

And she was certain it involved a certain teen idol.

"Well then it's settled. We meet at Tokyo Station on Friday Morning."

"Huh? Don't we have classes that day?" Yuu asked.

"It was a declared holiday, Iinchou!" Anna said; round up about the news of them going on a relaxing vacation that weekend.

As the group made their plans for the hot spring village, a figure hid in the bushes behind them, eavesdropping in their conversation.

"So, they're going to Nyuto Onsen, huh?" A smirk crossed its face.

"Looks like I'll be busy this weekend."

* * *

Mikan skipped towards the classroom, her mind wandering to their future trip to the hot spring. She grinned goofily to herself; "This is going to be so much fun-- OOF" She suddenly knocked in to someone, causing her to fall back on her butt the nth time that week.

"Ah, Sakura! Are you alright?" She winced and looked up to see Ruka's concerned face look down at her, he had a hand held out to her.

"Ruka! I'm sorry I should have minded where I was going." She said, laughing sheepishly at herself as she took his hand to pull herself up.

Ruka chuckled, "I'm the one who should be sorry. You were the one who got knocked off after all." He said as he helped her up.

Mikan laughed again, "Well thanks."

"What were you thinking anyway? You had a really wide grin on your face just now."

"Well, it's nothing important. Hotaru just asked us out for the weekend somewhere and I'm really looking forward for it!" She said, instantly reverting back to her cheery self.

Ruka laughed, "I see. That sounds like great news."

Not knowing what else to say, they both stood still for a moment, still smiling at each other as an awkward silence covered them.

"Ahh... well! We should be going back to the classroom now! Don't want to be late again!" Mikan said in a robotic manner as she walked passed Ruka.

"Sakura-san!"

Mikan turned her head back to look at him, "What is it, Ruka?"

Ruka opened his mouth to say something. When Natsume came back to the studio for a scheduled magazine pictorial last night, he noticed the grave look that he wore when he came in to the studio. While the photographer didn't seem to mind the serious facade, Ruka couldn't help but worry and wonder what had happened to him.

"Did something happen between you and Natsume yesterday?" He finally asked. Mikan's face fell at the question, her head turning slightly away from him. He bit his lip. He knew he shouldn't have asked that question so suddenly.

"Nope." Ruka looked back at Mikan who was now smiling at him. "Nothing happened at all."

Ruka looked at her for a moment, nodded and watched as Mikan marched to the classroom.

"I really hope this works, Imai."

"Na-tsu-me-kuuun!" A happy blonde chirped as he skipped towards Hyuuga Natsume's room. He knocked on the door, knowing full well that the teenager was in the room and only chose to ignore him. He knocked again, this time a bit harder than the first.

"Natsume-kun! I know you're in there! So it's better if you give in and let me in!" He said in a sing-song voice.

Natsume grunted at the sound of his manager's annoying voice. Can no one leave him alone?

"Na-tsu-meeee! Come on, if you let me in, I'll give you a nice treat!" Narumi said through the door, making a nerve pop out of Natsume's head.

Apparently no one can.

He lied down on his couch, trying to ignore Narumi's calls from the other side of his door. He took out his Ipod and started booming rock music in his ears, effectively cutting off any unwanted noise from the outside world.

He closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep despite the loud music ringing in his ears. It actually sounded like a lullaby to him in a way. He wasn't deep in his sleep when Mikan's crying face suddenly flashed in his mind, making his eyes snap open. At the same time, the door swung open and in came the studio's large security guard, Morimoto, and with him was his one and only, indispensable manager, Anjo Narumi.

"What happened in here Hyuuga-san?! Are you alright?!"

He snapped up from his position and was about to say something when he was unceremoniously hauled up from the couch and was on the big man's shoulder.

"WHAT THE--"

"Come on Narumi-san, it's off to the hospital!" The man exclaimed in a gruff tone.

Narumi laughed, "No, no. There's no need for that I think."

"You think?" Natsume said dangerously, sending dark waves to Narumi.

Morimoto looked at Narumi, then at Natsume and then back at Narumi again, obviously confused. "What's going on here? Didn't you say he fainted from constipation?"

"No, I said he was choking and needed the Heimlich Manoeuvre (3)." Narumi said enthusiastically, only making Natsume glare at him even more.

"Put... me down." He seethed between his teeth, and Morimoto immediately set him on his feet. He earned a glare from the teen, making him laugh nervously. He may be the bigger guy, but it was Natsume who had the power to remove him from his position, although the teen idol wouldn't do such a spiteful thing for the wrong reasons.

He let out a fake cough, "I'm going out to get lunch. Any of you wanna sandwich?"

"Oh, if it's not too much trouble, tuna would be nice." Narumi chirped, raising his hand up.

"No problem, boss." Morimoto saluted and left to let Natsume rain terror on his peppy manager.

Narumi turned around to face Natsume, only to be greeted with a hard punch on the face. He fell to the ground at the impact. "Oww... What was that for?" He groaned as he rubbed his swollen cheek.

"My fist wanted to greet you hello." Natsume said as he massaged his knuckles. He always wanted to do that. For some reason, punching his manager relieved some of the stress he was feeling that day.

Narumi chuckled, "Well my fist wants to greet you back too, but I have this aching feeling that your mother would kill me if I do." He said a bit too happily. Natsume didn't bother to reply to the statement and just sat back on the couch.

"What is it this time, Narumi?"

Narumi took out his PDA from his bag and started to call out a list of appointments that the celebrity was required to attend to.

"And you're free this weekend." He finished.

Natsume looked up at him, an eyebrow raised. His weekends were normally the busiest time in his current career.

"Ruka asked me a favour. He said you'll need the break." He said, answering the question he was about to ask. He put his hand on his chin, as if he was thinking, and then he smiled, "Although to be honest I don't think you need it at all. With the way you are, it's as if you're always on a vacation."

Natsume frowned at him, "Get out of here you moronic, bisexual slave driver."

"Ouch. That hurts, Natsume. Don't you know that I practically think of you as a son?" Natsume answered him with a snort, making Narumi laugh.

"Oh, and are you ready for next week? It's going to be a hectic week, so I suggest you get busy right now or else you won't get to enjoy your vacation with Ruka this weekend."

"I already sorted out my papers. Anything else you need to know?" Narumi gave him a sincere smile before stepping out of the room.

"You know, you should sort things out with her. That's the reason you went there in the first place, right?" Narumi said, in a more serious tone. He stared at the younger man, waiting for his answer and then Natsume gave him a curt nod.

"And besides... You won't be able to get married to her if things turn out worse than they are now!" Narumi winked at him and slammed the door close before a vase could hit his head.

**

* * *

Thursday Night.**

"Is that everything you need, Mikan?" Mrs. Sakura asked as she set down some towels on Mikan's bed.

Mikan rechecked her small suitcase, making sure that everything was ready before zipping it close. She turned around to face her mother and grinned at her. "Yep! Thanks mom."

Mrs. Sakura chuckled and ruffled her daughter's hair. "You know, your dad would've been really psyched to hear that his daughter is going out on her first outing alone with her friends. Of course, not before acting paranoid."

Mikan stared at her mother, recognizing the wistful smile that she wore whenever her father was mentioned. She looked down back to her bag and nodded, "Yeah."

Mrs. Sakura looked down at her daughter and started stroking her head, suddenly remembering what she found in the paper bag.

"You know, I'm always here to listen to anything you want to say, Mikan." She said softly. Mikan turned her head to her, smiling and then gave her a tight hug.

"Thanks mom." She pulled out of the embrace and gave her a light kiss on the cheek. Her mother stood up from the bed, "Well it's about time you got to sleep now, isn't it?" She said. She was about to leave when Mikan grabbed her hand. She looked back at her daughter, giving her a quizzical look.

Mikan just stared at her for a moment with her mouth hanging open. She so desperately wanted to tell her, tell her everything that was troubling her. But the thought of her mother worrying for her when she had other things that stressed her out made her change her mind.

"Ah... It's nothing." She said, forcing her lips to form a smile, "Good night."

Mrs. Sakura looked warily at her daughter before slipping her hand out of hers. "Yes... good night, Mikan." And with that, she left the room and a still troubled Mikan alone.

Mikan set her bag on the floor, turned off the lights and climbed in the covers of her bed, the thoughts about the day awaiting her and her friends sending butterflies of excitement in her stomach. And then there were those irksome thoughts about that bastard again.

She opened her eyes when his face flashed before her.

'No! Think about hot springs! Think about Hotaru and the others! Anything but that bastard's face!' She thought to herself as she closed her eyes tightly, trying to erase his face from her head.

She eventually fell into a restless sleep in the wee hours of the morning, the dreams that she had all week replaying. For the past few days, the dream was starting to get clearer and clearer, but every time she opened her eyes in the dream, the person who always held her hand would always remain a blurry black figure.

But something was different about the dream she was having now.

_When she opened her eyes, instead of seeing the blurry figure, she saw the face of someone who she never ever expected to see again. The smile, that she had longed to see, the soft eyes that looked down on her, the warmth of the hands she's been feeling that whole week when she was troubled._

_They belonged to her dad. _

_Tears started to well up in her eyes when the man started to caress her cheek, brushing the tears that ran down her cheeks away. He smiled sweetly at her and kissed her forehead. She closed her eyes, hoping that this was all real. She looked up at him when she heard him speak, but she couldn't make out the words he was trying to tell her at all. She can only feel herself nod at whatever he was saying and then..._

_Her cell phone started ringing. _

Mikan snapped her eyes open. She sat up and realized that she had cried for real while she was sleeping. She chuckled to herself, "Everyone's looking out for me... even you dad." She said to herself, lying back on her bed. Her cell phone started ringing again.

"Hello?" She answered sleepily.

"SAKURA MIKAN. If you don't get yourself down here in twenty minutes I will seriously leave you here." She heard a female voice say through the receiver. She looked at her digital clock.

8:30 a.m.

She gasped and bolted up from bed, panicking as she got ready to leave.

Late again, as usual.

* * *

**Tokyo Station**

"HOTARU!!"

Hotaru turned around and saw her idiotic best friend run up towards them. She glared at her as she grinned at them.

"Ahaha... Sorry... I overslept a little..." She said, laughing nervously.

Hotaru continued to glare at her. "A little?"

Mikan recognized the tone of voice Hotaru was using. It was Hotaru losing her patience. She laughed and put a hand on her shoulder, hoping to calm the raven haired girl from her silent raging.

"If you ever dare to oversleep at Nyuto, I'll leave you there. And I won't care if you have money to come back here or not."

"Waahh! I'm sorry, Hotaru! I won't do it again!"

"Don't touch me, ugly."

Yuu chuckled, "Well at least Mikan's here."

"Still energetic isn't she?" Anna said.

"That's Mikan for you." Nonoko piped in.

"Ah. Speaking of late, here come our companions now." Hotaru said, pointing at someone beyond the hustling and bustling crowd of the station.

Mikan squinted, trying to see what Hotaru was pointing at and her eyes widened.

Ruka was waving at them; a backpack in tow and with him was none other than...

... Hyuuga Natsume.

**

* * *

Author's Note:**

Nyuto Onsen- a collection of onsen ryokan in the mountains of eastern Akita Prefecture. It's only a 3 hour train ride from Tokyo Station to Tazawako Station and a bus ride to get to the Onsen.

Onsen- Basically means Hot Springs.

Heimlich Manoeuvre- an emergency procedure for removing a foreign object lodged in the airway that is preventing a person from breathing.

Aha! 'Tis finished! You know, it didn't turn out quite the way I expected... I was originally planning to send them straight to the hot springs for the confrontation but decided against it since I wanted to make a smoother transition for that. So this chapter was mostly supposed to be about them planning things out and is more of a setting chapter. Heh. I know. Boring, huh? But I had fun writing about Narumi and Natsume's interaction. I know Narumi's all serious business in the recent chapters of the manga, but that _gay_ persona of his will always remain!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter... please leave a review before leaving. I'd like to know what you think. Were they in character? Were there some noticeable inconsistencies in the chapter? And so on and so forth that needs to be fixed?

Anyway, thanks for reading!

TIL THE NEXT TIME!

BlakRythem out!


	8. Hot Springs Part 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not and will never own Gakuen Alice.

**Author's note:** Now before you kill me (Which I believe you all have every reason to do so, seeing as I haven't updated for... almost a year), let me express my deepest apologies. Personal... happenings got in the way, as well as college (The professors are all slave drivers!). Anyway, I'd like to thank all those who took the time to review this story! You've all been so wonderful and patient with me.

I hope ya'll enjoyed your Holidays. I'm already wishing it'll never end. ;)

Again, I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors that I failed to correct. (Gawd I need a Beta)

Anyway, here's chapter 7!

* * *

**Love Knots**

**Chapter 7: Hot Springs Part 1**

They stared at each other for a moment, neither one saying a word as hazel eyes stared at the ruby red eyes that she knew stared back at her beneath the dark tint of his sunglasses. Outrage was supposed to be the most common reaction to give in such a situation, but at that point, her thought process was jumbled, and different waves of emotions attacked her. Anger, not amongst them.

"Ah! Nogi-ku—" Yuu called out to the blonde, but was immediately cut off by Ruka, "Iinchou! So good to see you again!" He said in a shrill voice that made Hotaru cringe. Ruka continued in a much lower tone, making sure that only the group could hear. "We would like to thank all of you for inviting us on your excursion. Natsume and I haven't been on a trip together with anyone other than agents for a while. I hope we won't be too much trouble. We're well known around here so we had to sneak out wearing these."

Nonoko and Anna looked at him from head to toe. He was clad in an oversized, brown sweatshirt, baggy torn jeans, and a pair of dirty sneakers. His eyes were concealed by rose tinted sunglasses, and his blonde hair was hidden underneath a Yankee baseball cap.

"You thought you wouldn't get recognized wearing that?" Nonoko asked, making Ruka laughed. "Well it worked didn't it?"

Hotaru rolled her eyes, "Only an idiot would fall for that disguise." She said, picking up her bag. "Hurry it up, the train's leaving in ten minutes."

Ruka looked over at his still dazed best friend, "Natsume, Sakura-san, let's go!"

Natsume tore his gaze away from Mikan and started to walk toward the others. "Well, aren't you coming?" He said as soon as he passed her.

Mikan snapped out of her daze and turned her head towards him, scowling. "Of course I'm co-" her words trailed off when she saw that he was already gone.

She stood there for a moment and sighed, lifting up her suit case and made her way in the train.

This will to be one chaotic vacation.

* * *

"Excuse me, mister? Is this seat taken?" The old man looked up at the brunette and smiled, "Not at all miss." He said as he scooted away so that the girl could take a seat.

Mikan smiled at him as she sat down next to him, setting her bag next to his own. She looked at the other side of the train where Hotaru and Ruka were seated and frowned. Those two were being too familiar with each other all of a sudden.

Mikan planned to sit next to Hotaru when Ruka sat next to her best friend before she could sit down, leaving Natsume to sit with Yuu. Anna and Nonoko were seated together, as they usually were.

Hotaru was displeased by their current situation, though she did a good job of not showing it. They were supposed to get Mikan and Natsume to sit together by sticking with someone else for the whole trip.

"You were supposed to find a seat for the two of them, then find a seat for yourself." Hotaru said to Ruka in a low voice.

Ruka gave her a sheepish smile. "I thought that there'd be more vacant seats somewhere. It isn't my fault that the train's loaded today." He said, leaning his head closer to hers, and glancing at Mikan to make sure she couldn't overhear their conversation. Mikan only gave them a curious glance before engaging herself in a conversation with the old man that was seated next to her.

"Well that worked out quite well for you." Hotaru sarcastically said, taking out her iPod so that she could ignore the blonde-haired boy.

Ruka turned his head and grumbled something about it not being his fault while Mikan was left to wonder what the two were up to.

Mikan and Natsume ignored each other for the entirety of the trip, and when Ruka and Hotaru made the effort of leaving the two alone, the atmosphere would suddenly turn heavy, as though their energy would simply drain out when they were in each others' presence.

After getting out of the awkward silence that surrounded the two, they finally reached the bus stop where they were supposed to wait for the bus taking them to the onsen.

"Hurry it up in there, you slowpoke or else we'll leave you here." Hotaru said as she climbed out of the train with the others.  
After a few minutes, Mikan's head popped out of the train, a grave expression plastered on her face.

"What's wrong, Mikan?" Nonoko asked as Mikan walked towards them, carrying a brown bag.

"My bag. MY. BAG." She managed to mutter.

"What about your bag, Mikan-chan?" Yuu asked, concern lacing his voice.

"The old man that was seated next to me took my bag instead of his!" She cried out, waving the bag around the air.

They all looked at each other, Yuu and Ruka giving her a look of pity, Anna and Nonoko not deciding whether to look amused or feel sorry for her, Hotaru looking bored, and Natsume gave out a snort. Mikan caught this and glared daggers at him.

"I don't think I said anything funny!"

Natsume was about to say something that would make her angrier, but just chose to shrug and turn his head towards Ruka, hiding a smirk of amusment.

"Okay, that's enough." Hotaru said, smacking her best friend on the head. "Mikan, see if you can find an ID in that old bag that can help us contact this... old man."

Mikan nodded and started rummaging inside the bag, finding a small bottle of sake, a pair of boxer shorts, a shirt, and a worn out wallet which contained a few yen and a faded out ID that was taken in the 70's.

"Well this is helpful." Mikan said, staring at the old man's belongings.

"Now is not the opportune time to be sarcastic, Mikan." Nonoko said.

Mikan shook her head. "But I'm not. The ID number on this still looks... readable." She said with a smile on her face. Yuu peered down at the old ID and took note of the image of the then younger man, "And you can still recognize the picture... even though it is of a middle-aged man. We can take the bag to the Lost and Found Booth. The old man is bound to be look for his own bag when he realizes he took yours by mistake."

"And he can contact the train station for it and return MY bag!" Mikan excitedly said, returning all the bag's contents inside and heaving it up to her chest, ready to deposit it at the Lost and Found Booth.

"Glad to know you actually know how to use your head... Even though you are still an idiot."

"Of cou- Hey!"

"Umm... Mikan..." Anna interrupted, "That's good and all, but what are you going to wear when we reach the onsen?"

"That's simple, Anna-chan! I can borrow a few things from you girls, can't I?" Mikan's eyes sparkled as she looked towards Hotaru.

"Not my clothes, you aren't." Hotaru said, deflecting the puppy dog eyes that Mikan was making.

"And just whose underwear are you going to use?"

* * *

The group had finally gotten a bus (after Hotaru found a clean set of elastic bags and turned them into disposable underwear for Mikan), for Nyuto and got to the Inn after an hour's drive.

Mikan looked around in awe at the beautiful sight that was only a small part of her country as the others went towards the main building to get checked in. Nyuto Onsen was a collection of hot springs and she knew that there was bound to be an even more beautiful spot than where they were now. To her own excitement, she stumbled on a pothole, face planting.

"Oww..." She muttered as she rubbed her forehead, cursing her own clumsiness. She looked up as a hand was offered to her, and she smiled gratefully as she took it. She got up and faced the person to thank him but suddenly stopped herself. It was Natsume.

"Watch where you're going next time." He said to her and went on to follow the others.

Mikan stared at his back, wondering why her heart was beating so fast.

"Isn't this nice, Mikan-chan? It's been a while since I've been out to the hot springs deep in the mountains." Anna said, unfolding her towel, and grabbing a yukata from their closet. Anna looked down to see that her friend was lying down on her futon on her belly, looking as if she was thinking about something. Anna walked towards her after setting out all of her things for her dip in the hot spring later with the others. She bent down and poked the brunette on the head, making Mikan face her. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Mikan smiled at her as she sat up to face her, "Nothing." She cheerfully said, and stretched her arms up. She looked around the spacious room, "Where are Hotaru and Nonoko?"

"Nonoko just finished unpacking and said she was going to take a look around the place with Iinchou, and I think I saw Hotaru with Nogi-kun go off somewhere." At the mention of Hotaru and Ruka, Mikan bolted up. "To where?"

Anna looked up at her in surprise, "I—I don't know. Last I saw them, they met outside the lobby."

Mikan frowned, "Anna-chan... don't you think they're... acting a little strange today?" Anna gave her a look of confusion. "What do you mean, Mikan-chan?"

"Well, they've been sticking together the whole trip. Ruka has been with Hotaru since we've left Tokyo, whispering about something to each other, and been giving each other those strange glances that I've seen in dramas when there's this sort of propaganda going on. Now they're sneaking around together!" Mikan elaborated albeit dramatically. "Something's going on with them. I think... I think..."

Anna gulped. Hotaru had told them about their whole plan concerning Mikan and Natsume and decided to play along with them. Now it looked as if the jig was up. Mikan was actually sharper than Hotaru gave her credit for. Anna sighed, "Well, you see Mikan-"

"They're in love with each other!" The brunette declared, her right arm raised up, and her hand fisted to emphasize her point.

Anna sweat dropped, but then nodded vigorously. "Ummm... Yeah! That's it! They... couldn't be more in love with each other."

Mikan sat back down, "Well, it couldn't be anything more, _right_?" She said and grinned, "I'm so happy for Hotaru! You know, I always thought Ruka was far from Hotaru's type, what with the way she always scoffs at celebrities and all that. But then again, love is bl-"

Anna sighed as she listened to Mikan ramble on about her best friend's so called _love life_.

_'Oh Mikan... If only you knew.'_

* * *

Natsume heaved out a breath as he put his jacket and sunglasses on and walked out of the room. He wasn't really a big fan of hot springs, so instead of unpacking his things for it, he decided to take a walk around the onsen. He'd rather be outside than to be left in that old room alone with his thoughts. Especially when said thoughts were about a brunette who was only a room away.

He stopped and stared at the door in front of him and heard her saying something about her best friend being in love and went along his way, out of the Inn.

She was utterly clumsy, that Mikan. First she loses her bag, then she trips. Natsume let out a small chuckle. He couldn't count the number of times he saw the girl trip. Not only was she clumsy. But she was LOUD as HELL.

Yet she still had a smile on her face. Every time she falls, she gets up and smiles. Even after that ac-

Natsume's thoughts were interrupted when he saw a blob of blonde hair disappear from a patch of trees. Ruka.

He frowned. His best friend was acting quite oddly today, along with that violet-eyed genius named Imai. Under normal circumstances, he would've shrugged it off and went on his way, but they were acting too strangely to just be shrugged off. His eye caught a dark blur from the bushes and his head snapped to that direction, but saw nothing. He narrowed his eyes but decided to follow Ruka.

Sumire heaved a sigh of relief when she heard the footsteps fade away.

_'That was close! A second later and I could've been caught snooping!'_ She thought and took a peek to see if there was anyone else there. She had been following them the whole day, waking up extra early to catch them leaving on a train a few hours later. She had to give in to some inconveniences such as wearing an over sized coat and hat and buying herself a faux mustache and sticking to a large crowd, just so she could follow them, and even losing her way around the Onsen, but it was all worth it.

After making sure that no one who knew her was in sight, she sneaked inside the Inn to get herself checked in.

She jumped when hand rested on her shoulder.

"Excuse me sir, you dropped your... Uummm... Mustache?" Said the ever familiar voice of Iinchou as he handed her the strip of false facial hair. She tipped her hat so as to hide her face, and nervously said in a low and gruff voice. "Ehem... Uuhhh... Thanks a lot kid." She said, grabbing the mustache. She turned around and realized that Nonoko was there. _'Act casual.'_ She thouht. She tucked her hands in the pockets of her coat, "Th-That's why you should eat your vegetables... Helps you grow beard." She said, patting Yuu on the back.

Nonoko and Yuu looked at each other, then back at her. Yuu adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose and squinted at the stranger. "You actually look very familiar... Have we met?"

Sumire hastily shook her head and said in her low voice. "Of course not! But then again... I can see how you can say that. I have a pretty... common... face."

"Oh..." Before they could ask any more questions, Sumire bolted inside the Inn, hoping to avoid them.

"What a strange fellow." Yuu said.

"Iinchou... Did you notice his red high heels?" Nonoko asked with a look of puzzlement on her face.

"Yeah, I did."

* * *

After a soak at the hot springs, and a few embarrassing shots by Hotaru (Her number one victim being Ruka, of course), the group entered the dining hall for dinner.

Mikan excitedly picked out a long table for them and sat down on the tatami mat. She looked up at Hotaru and patted the vacant seat beside her with a grin.

"Hotaru! Sit here with us!" Anna said from across the table. Hotaru nodded and sat with them, completely ignoring Mikan's offer. Mikan, slightly hurt by this, looked down on her lap when someone slumped down beside her. She turned to see Ruka grinning at her.

"Did you have fun, Sakura-san?" He asked.

Mikan's face brightened as she indulged herself in a conversation with Ruka. Natsume finally entered the dining hall, in a crisp white yukata, and his hair dry. Unlike the others, he didn't get into the hot springs, instead he watched the boys as they enjoyed themselves. He looked over at the table, realizing that the only vacant seat was beside Mikan. He walked towards Ruka.

"Move over, Ruka. I'm sitting there."

Ruka grinned up at him, "No can do, Natsume. I... I've already started eating, see?" He said as he grabbed some appetizer from the center of the table and popped it in his mouth. "Why doncha sit necht to Shakura-san?" He said with his mouth full.

Natsume growled. He didn't want to sit next to Sakura Mikan for- obvious and awkward reasons. He looked over at Yuu. "Iinchou, switch places with me." He said, more like commanded.

Yuu looked at him nervously, then at Hotaru who was giving him a sharp look. He turned back to Natsume only to see that his gaze at him had turned a bit more acidic than what he was comfortable with.

"Umm... Uhhh.. Ummm... S-Sorry, Hyuu-Hyuuga-san... But... I-I like where I'm seated right now." Yuu managed to stutter. "If-If you don't mind." He added.

"I'm sure he doesn't mind, Iinchou. He can sit in a different table by himself if he doesn't want to sit beside me." Mikan finally said, a bitter lilt in her voice. It wasn't like she enjoyed the idea of Hyuuga Natsume being so close to her for more than five minutes, what with how awkward things had gotten between them, but she hated the way he had looked at Iinchou. And all for a god damn seat!

"I'd do that, but it seems like all the tables in here are occupied. So I think I can tolerate having such a companion for dinner."

Mikan glared up at him, "Well, I can too." she snapped back as Natsume finally sat next to her.

They ignored each other for the majority of the time they had dinner, conversing with the others, but never to each other. The only time they said anything to one another was when Natsume asked for the sauce to be passed to him, and Mikan only answered him with a short "Here."

Natsume couldn't understand the boiling feeling of jealousy that forced itself on his chest as he watched Mikan talk and laugh with his best friend. It wasn't as if Ruka had feelings for her. He'd seen her talk to him before, but he still couldn't help feeling a bit more than envious. Especially because Mikan seemed to detest the thought of him making the slightest contact with her, as evidenced by th time when she had accidentally brushed her palm with his when she handed the sauce to him. She had cringed.

Ruka watched as Natsume silently consumed the bento before him and resisted the urge to smile. His best friend was jealous, an obvious indication that he still had feelings for the brunette despite their little bout a few days before. He felt a small nudge on his knee from under the table, and looked across the table to see Hotaru signalling him to put their plan into action.

He smiled, signalling her that he understood.

"Hey Natsume, why don't we have a quick stroll around the onsen before turning in? I'm so full I think I might slip into a coma if I sleep right away." He said, rubbing his belly, making the girls, except Hotaru, laugh.

Natsume grunted, "Why don't you go by yourself? I feel tired and I want to catch up on some sleep."

"But don't you want to see the onsen when it's night time? I hear that the site is even more beautiful at night." Ruka coaxed, hoping that his stubborn friend would finally give in and come with him.

"No." Natsume finally said, and Ruka stopped pressing him any further. When Natsume used that tone, it usually meant that he was dead serious, and no one else had a say on the matter.

Natsume stood up. "I'm going to bed. Iinchou, do you have the key?"

Yuu shook his head, "No... I gave it to Nogi-kun before going to the hot spring. Natsume redirected his gaze at Ruka, and asked for the key. Ruka looked at Hotaru who was silently telling him not to do so. He sighed. Even if he lied about the losing the key, Natsume would still find a way to make him give it up to him.

He reached in the pocket of his yukata and found...

Nothing.

And then he reached for his other pocket and also found...

Nothing.

Panic overrode his feeling of disappointment as he searched for the key everywhere in his yukata.

"Uummm... I think I may have lost it." He muttered.

"What do you mean you _lost_ it?" Natsume asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Honest! I can't find it! I remember slipping it in this pocket!" Ruka exclaimed, turning his pocket inside out only to find a hole on it.

"Well... That explains everything."

* * *

"Hmmm... That felt so good!" Sumire muttered to herself as she came out of the rest room, her hair damp from her time in the hot spring. She noticed something shimmering right outside the boy's rest room and she picked it up.

"A key?" She asked herself when she heard a familiar voice coming her way.

"I'm sure that the last time I saw it was when I slipped on my yukata. It must be in one of the rest rooms."

"RUKA-SAMA!" She said to herself then clamped her own mouth and reminded herself that she was supposed to be incognito. So she jumped in the nearest hiding place she could find. The laundry hamper.

She heard the shuffling of footsteps and then another voice joining Ruka's and Sumire had to prevent herself from squealing.

"Have you found it yet, Ruka?" Natsume asked a bit more impatiently.

Ruka came out of the rest rooms and shook his head. "No trace of it. Maybe we can ask for a spare."

"I already asked. They don't have a spare available. Said that the new duplicate was arriving tomorrow." Natsume said, rubbing his temple.

Ruka gave him a sheepish look. "Sorry, okay? I know this is supposed to be relaxing... You do believe me when I said that I lost it, right?"

"I know... And yeah, I believe you. It's not your fault that you lost the key."

"Really?"

"No."

Ruka laughed at that, making Natsume smile. They walked back to lobby to meet up with the others.

Sumire tumbled out of the laundry hamper with a low 'Oof', the key still in her hand. She smirked, "So... This is the famous Hyuuga Natsume's and Nogi Ruka's room key, huh?" She said to herself, a mischievous sparkle in her eyes.

Mikan was sitting on the sofa of the lobby when the two celebrities had returned. Apparently, no one around them recognized them, or else there'd be a flock of girls surrounding them by now. They had agreed that if they couldn't find the key, the three boys would share their room for the night, until the duplicate would arrive. Her face fell when Ruka shook his head, she had silently hoped that they would find it. She desperately wanted to get a well deserved sleep after everything that's happened that day, and sleeping in the same room as Natsume couldn't help her with that.

"Sorry, I guess we're staying with you girls tonight." Ruka said to Hotaru as Natsume asked for some extra futons at the counter. He had yet again declined his offer for a walk outside, and said he'd rather be showered by a generous amount of the girls' potpourri in his sleep than to have a long walk with him.

Hotaru blinked, "You do realize that our plan of leaving them alone together in the woods has been jeopardized, right?" She asked in her usual monotone.

Ruka cringed, "Yeah. I really thought that Natsume would want to go around this place. He's actually easy to persuade when it comes to that sort of thing."

"Well... You know what that means, don't you? We did have a deal after all." Hotaru said.

Ruka's face flushed a beet red. "H-Hey! That's not fair! I didn't ruin the plan! Is it my fault that Natsume wants to stay cooped up in a stuffy room instead of exploring the natural wonders of Japan by moonlight?" He was suddenly blinded by a white light.

Hotaru lowered her camera and smirked at him, "This is going to the internet as well as your 'hot spring' escapade. It's going to be worth millions." She said a bit deviously.

"Give me that!" Ruka cried out as he tried to jump her, only to run into a wall when Hotaru sidestepped him.

Mikan watched as Ruka chased Hotaru out of the Inn. Hotaru grabbed her scooter outside, enjoying herself as Ruka kept on chasing her, shouting about cameras and hot spring photos.

All Mikan could think about as she watched Ruka pursue her best friend was how sweet they were together.

* * *

Uhhh... This must be the most "meh" chapter I've written. Or it is for me, at least since it's already 2 in the morning. This is the first part of the hot springs chapter, and the second part is already in the making. I had to divide it since it was too long. I'm hoping to finish it and get it up by New Year's so... just cross your fingers!

Sorry if they're OOC... it's been a while since I've read the manga, and I'm still trying to catch up to with the chapters.

Next chapter, we'll have some genuine M x N interaction. :)

Thank you for reading!

Please review? _(hint) (hint)_


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